Accidents Don't End In Murder
by Great Bishop Hazel
Summary: Marni lived with the Largo family for quite some time before she met Nathan. This is the story of her life with them, focusing mainly on her relationships with Luigi and Pavi. Luigi/Marni, Luigi/Pavi.
1. Chapter 1

"Paviche! Mellie! Luigi! I have a surprise for you!" Rottissimo Largo hadn't sounded this happy in a long time. His children wondered what he could possibly have that would make him so happy. Paviche, Rotti's middle child and youngest son was the first one downstairs. Rotti had called ahead and told his children to get dressed up nicely, so he assumed he was supposed to dress as though he were going to a wedding or some other formal event and put on a tuxedo. Little Mellie was next in her princess dress complete with a little tiara and a tiny pair of MaryJanes. Finally, Luigi walked down in a crisp white shirt and black slacks as well as an expensive red ascot…or maybe it had been white and he'd just been busy earlier.

Pavi was the first to see daddy's surprise. A beautiful young woman with long dark curls and dark pretty eyes. She was perfect, like an angel or one of the princesses in Mellie's story books. He, at age fourteen, was just starting to really get in to girls but he didn't need years of experience to know that this one was amazing.

"Pavi, why don't you introduce yourself?" Rotti asked, giving the boy a look that clearly said 'please, remember your manners.'

"P...P…Pavi L...L...Largo. My name is-a Pavi Largo." Pavi managed to stammer in awe, holding out his hand for the beautiful woman to shake.

"Marni DiAngelo." The beautiful woman introduced herself, taking Pavi's hand and shaking it enthusiastically. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Pavi."

Little Mellie walked over and tugged at Marni's skirt until Marni paid attention to her. "My name is Carmella Largo, I'm this many!" She proudly told Marni, holding up five fingers.

"Your children are adorable, Rotti, but there's one young man I haven't met yet…" She said, eyes focused coyly on Luigi. Rotti didn't pick up on the flirtatious glance, but Luigi did and he grinned.

"Luigi Largo." He said, by way of an introduction, grinning and shaking Marni's hand firmly.

"Enchanted to meet you, Luigi." Marni winked when Rotti turned his back to them.

Over the next few days, Marni and Luigi's flirting became increasingly obvious between the two of them; Rotti still didn't seem to notice though, to him, Marni could do no wrong. However, despite his overwhelming crush on Marni, Pavi wasn't so blind. He had a feeling he knew what was going on. After all, he followed Marni everywhere, curious about the beautiful woman. Marni, likewise, was curious about the scrawny little teen who followed her everywhere.

One day, Marni caught Pavi following her to her room and decided to invite him in. "Come on in, kiddo, we're going to have a little talk, okay?" She said with a smile, patting the bed next to her. Pavi blushed and sat beside her.

"What-a do you want-a to talk about, Miss DiAngelo?" He asked with nervously.

"Please, Pavi, call me mama Marni, there's no need to be so formal." Marni smiled. "Now, why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

"Well…um…I like-a to look good and I like-a masks, I think-a they're really cool. I also like-a pretty girls." He smiled. 'And pretty boys…' he added to himself, not knowing if he could trust Marni with that information yet. Marni nodded and smiled.

"Do you play sports?" She asked.

"No, I'd-a chip a nail or-a ruin my face." Pavi replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

Marni giggled. "My sentiments exactly. You're an interesting little guy, Pavi. Can you show me your room? You can learn a lot about someone from their room."

"Okay!" Pavi couldn't help but feel excited about Marni wanting to see his room. He was glad to show her just down the hall to his large bedroom, which was full of mirrors and wardrobes as though he cared mostly about his appearance and his clothes. As Marni looked around she saw makeup and lots of hair products on Pavi's vanity desk. She wondered privately if Pavi had a tendency towards men as well as women, but she quickly scolded herself, that was hardly progressive thinking, just because the kid had make-up didn't mean he was gay or even bi, all it meant was maybe he got a kick out of wearing it.

"Thank you, Pavi, you certainly do have an interesting room, but I figured you would, after all, you're an interesting kid." Marni smiled and ruffled Pavi's long black hair before walking out of the room. Pavi began to follow her but gasped and ducked out of the way when he saw Luigi coming down the hall and beginning to talk to Marni.

"So, baby, what were you doing with that idiot? He can't give you what you need, I can." Luigi grinned charmingly at Marni.

"I'll bet you can." Marni giggled. "Sorry I took so long, but your little brother is so adorable and interesting too. He really is a sweet kid."

"Yeah, I'm sure he is." Luigi rolled his eyes. Pavi would pay for ruining the moment, but he'd have to pay later, right now, Luigi was very much in the mood to nail Marni. "Anyway, how about I show you my room, I'm sure you can learn a little about me from my room." Luigi added with a sly grin.

Marni giggled again and followed him to his room. Knives hung on Luigi's walls and there were books on business and magazines about Geneco littering the room. Marni shuddered a little at the sight of the knives, but sat down on the bed. Luigi sat next to her and leaned forward, pressing a hand to the side of her face and kissing her, his tongue sliding past her lips, he placed his other hand on her leg, pushing up her skirt. Marni wrapped her arms around Luigi's shoulders and leaned back until he was on top of her, the hand that had been on her leg now on her stomach, running up under her shirt, moving further up until the hand moved gently over her breasts. Eventually Marni and Luigi got up for a minute to undress each other and then fell back into each other's arms, enjoying their time together.

When they were finished, Marni gathered up her clothes, got dressed, heading off to the bathroom for a shower before returning to her bedroom. She didn't have to sleep with Rotti every night, so she had her own bed room. She walked into her room and flopped down on her bed, smiling. Luigi was handsome and young and ambitious, he was perfect for her, she was sure what Rotti didn't know wouldn't hurt him and so it didn't matter if she slept with Luigi or not. As long as no one found out and told Rotti.

Pavi had seen Luigi and Marni talking and he knew what they'd done, so he went to confront Luigi about it. He walked towards Luigi's room and knocked on the door. "What the fuck do you want, stupid?" Luigi asked, as Pavi tried to walk into the room.

"You shouldn't do-a things like that with-a Marni, she's-a dad's girlfriend." Pavi said softly, staring at the ground rather than up at Luigi.

"Oh? Who should I do them with then? You?" Luigi smirked, grabbing Pavi by the hair and dragging him into his room. "You want me to touch you the way I touched her? You want me to treat you like a woman?" Luigi asked, pushing Pavi up against the wall and running a hand down his trembling body. He grinned when he saw how scared Pavi looked. Luigi liked to have that sort of dominance over other people and having that kind of dominance over someone who might one day be his equal. He'd do his best to keep Pavi down so he would never be his equal and possibly own Geneco.

Pavi whimpered softly as he felt Luigi's hands on his body. "Please…stop…" he begged. But Luigi didn't stop; he undressed the younger boy and forced a kiss onto his mouth.

"I'll treat you just the way I treated Marni and you'll love it." He smirked. "And if you don't, at least I will have enjoyed it." Luigi said, grinning as he shoved his hand into Pavi's underwear.

Pavi sniffled softly and kept murmuring that he didn't want this and that he wanted his big brother to stop, but his pleas fell on uncaring ears as Luigi kept up what he was doing. Pavi cried the whole time, though he'd never admit it.

"If you tell dad, I'll kill you." Luigi said with a sneer as he watched Pavi get dressed and leave the room.

"I won't-a tell…" Pavi promised, wiping away his tears as he stumbled off towards his own room.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Marni found herself stuck at a tea party with five year old Carmella and her dolls and stuffed animals. Marni certainly remembered having tea parties as a little girl but she never remembered having real butlers and maids serving real tea even to the stuffed animals and dolls. It was like an even more bizarre version of Alice in Wonderland to her and quite obviously, that was Carmella's favorite bedtime story because the whole room was decorated with that theme and the book was placed neatly on the end of Carmella's bed where a GENtern had placed it after reading to her last night.

"You know, Mellie, instead of a GENtern, maybe I could read you that book tonight." Marni suggested.

"Clean cup! Move down!" Mellie shouted. "We don't have time to wash the cups 'cause Father Time made it so it's always tea time, so we hafta move down when we've used the cup!" She informed Marni.

"I see. Well, Alice-"

"Nuh-uh! You're Alice! I'm The Mad Hatter!" Carmella insisted.

"Okay, well, Alice has to go meet the Cheshire Cat now." Marni said.

"Pavi's the Cheshire Cat 'cause he's always got that creepy smile." Carmella grinned. " 'uigi said so."

"Okay, then who's Luigi?" Marni asked.

"He's the White Rabbit now because you follow him sometimes." Carmella giggled. "Do you have tea parties with Luigi too? Because you two are in his room together a lot."

"No, Luigi found a way to Wonderland, we go there together." Marni giggled.

"Can I come?" Mellie asked.

"No, but some guy will show you the way to Wonderland when you're older." Marni promised, tapping a finger on Mellie's cute little nose. It was hard to believe that in almost no time Carmella would find her nose ugly and try to change it.

With that said, Marni got up and walked down the hall. She was supposed to spend the day with Luigi before going to see Rotti at his office, but when she was walking past Pavi's room, she saw him doing some homework. "Need any help, Pavi?" She asked, walking into the room.

"Um…yes-a…" Pavi didn't tell Marni that the reason he needed help was that he'd spent yesterday's class in a supply closet with some older girl who looked a little like Marni. Pavi couldn't help it, he was obsessed, Marni was amazing, he was in love for the first time, unfortunately he was only in love with the real Marni, not some skank who looked like her and the real Marni was thirteen years older than he was and only into men who were legal. Poor fourteen-year-old Pavi never had a chance with her.

"Alright…let's see…Geometry?" She asked, looking at the shapes on the page. "Alright, this shouldn't be too hard. Circumference is pi, that's three point one four, times radius squared, so what does that make the answer? Are you allowed a calculator?" Marni asked.

"Yes." Pavi said, holding up a calculator that had been right next to him on the bed. However while Marni talked about numbers, all Pavi could think about was the gentle swell of her breasts connecting perfectly to her slim torso culminating in the curve of her hips and also how long and well shaped her arms and legs were. She was beautiful, perfect. Pavi wanted to badly to feel her underneath him, writhing in pleasure, wanting him more than she wanted Luigi. "Um…I'll-a be right back, mama Marni…" Pavi blushed taking off his jacket and wrapping it around his waist to hide the sudden change taking place in his pants as he imagined this. He had to go take care of this or else Marni would think he was a pervert, then he'd have, if possible, even less of a chance with her.

"Um…okay…Don't take too long." Marni called after him, surprised by his sudden departure.

Luigi was currently looking for Marni so they could spend their day together like they'd planned. Luigi wasn't about to let his idiot younger brother keep Marni from him all day. He walked to Pavi's room, thinking Marni would be there and he was right, there she was, sitting on Pavi's bed looking over his homework. "Ditch the kid, baby; we can go have some real fun."

"Luigi, I can't. Pavi needs to get this homework done. You know what he's like, the poor kid isn't the most…aware of his surroundings, suppose one of his teachers is failing him and asks him for sex in return for a better grade? Wouldn't you feel bad if someone was molesting your little brother?" Marni asked.

Luigi raised an eyebrow and thought about his answer. "It'd be his own damn fault for not paying attention to the fucking lesson." He finally said. "Don't feel sorry for him, that's how he drags you in, then he takes all your attention and leeches all the joy out of your life. Why do you think dad is so miserable? Because Pavi is an attention whore."

"Luigi, he's fourteen, stop being so jealous. I'm not that kind of woman." Marni laughed. "And besides, you're his big brother; you're supposed to look out for him."

"Marni…I…" Luigi stopped for a minute, smoothing back his hair and sighing. "I think I'm really in love with you. I've never fallen this hard for any other woman in my entire life. I need you. Let's just stop talking about stupid Pavi and start talking about us for a minute."

"Luigi…I…I don't know what to tell you about us. I do, actually, love your father; I'm not just some gold digger. But…I think I love you too. I'll need to make a decision, just give me some time to think about it." Marni said with a sad smile.

"Take as long as you need, Marni." Luigi had never been a patient man, but he was head over heels for Marni, so he figured it was best to give her the time she needed to figure this out. He smiled though when Marni leaned forward and kissed him passionately on the lips, arms wrapping around his shoulders again.

"Mama Marni, I'm-a back, I just-a…." Pavi gasped when he saw Marni and Luigi making out in the middle of the hallway. It tore his heart up to see them together. He backed away and ran into his room, slamming the door behind him and collapsing on his bed, shaking with anger and sorrow as he imagined Marni with Luigi, doing everything with him, EVERYTHING. All the things Pavi wanted to do with Marni, Luigi was already doing with her.

Pavi wanted Marni so bad he could feel himself aching for her as he lay there, hugging a pillow to his chest. He wanted so badly to be old enough for Marni to love, but of course he wasn't, he was just a stupid kid, no better than little Mellie. At least that was what Marni and Luigi seemed to think of him.

"Pavi. Open the fucking door." Luigi's voice sounded outside the door.

"Go-a away!" Pavi shouted. "I don't-a want to see you!"

"Open the fucking door before I break it down and kick your motherfucking ass." Luigi snarled. Pavi sighed and got up from his bed, not wanting his door to be broken down and ruined, so he opened the door and let Luigi in.

"I'm-a going to tell papa, you know." Pavi said to him.

"Tell him what?" Luigi asked, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"That-a you're sleeping with-a Marni." Pavi replied. "You don't-a deserve her."

"You little--" Luigi snarled, he couldn't calm down, he had to hurt Pavi and as badly as possible. He slammed the door shut and locked it so Marni wouldn't come in and see him doing something so disgusting and once the door was closed he began beating Pavi. He finished with that and bent Pavi over the vanity desk. "Move one inch and I'll beat you again." Luigi threatened as he yanked down Pavi's pants then his own. Pavi screamed that he wouldn't tell Rotti if Luigi would just stop, he begged and pleaded his older brother to leave him alone and stop it, but Luigi wouldn't listen. Pavi had been bad and he needed to be punished and who was better fit to dish out punishment than the one Pavi had wronged? He'd threatened to tattle to dear old daddy like this was a game rather than Luigi's life. Well, he'd show Pavi this was no fucking game. He'd show him until the kid started crying, which didn't take too long, soon the younger boy was in tears, begging again for Luigi to stop. Finally, Luigi finished and tossed Pavi into a corner. "I fucking dare you to tell dad everything now."


	3. Chapter 3

"Marni, what-a do you do-a for a living? Pavi asked one day while he and Marni sat going over his homework.

"I'm a singer. Mostly right now I just teach up and coming young stars. I'm teaching a girl named Magdalene Defoe right now, she's showing amazing promise, I think she could be a star if her training keeps going well. She's blind though, I wish there was some way I could help her…" Marni replied with a sigh. "What do you want to do when you grow up, Pavi?"

"I want-a to own Geneco. Just-a like papa." Pavi smiled brightly.

"What if you can't own Geneco, though? You've got competition, Luigi or Carmella could own Geneco just as easily." Marni said, not wanting to crush Pavi's dreams, but wanting him to have something to fall back on.

"Then I'll-a just live off my inheritance and-a get all the women I want-a." Pavi grinned.

"Are you sure, Pavi? You could be anything you want and all you want to do is be a rich playboy?" Marni asked.

"I dunno…" Pavi shrugged. "I don't-a like to work."

"Well, you have plenty of time to think about it. You've got the rest of high school and all of college to decide." Marni smiled. "Now, can you repeat back to me in your own words what we just went over before this conversation?"

"Um…This-a guy named Hitler killed a bunch of people and-a it was really bad?" Pavi asked.

"Technically you're right, care to go into a little more detail?" Marni asked "Like, for instance, why?"

"Because-a…he was-a…a douche bag?" Pavi asked.

Marni clapped a hand to her forehead. "Were you even paying attention?" She asked "never mind, sorry to have snapped. Do you even remember what it was called?"

"The Holocaust?" Pavi asked, cocking his head to one side. "That part I-a remember, I learned-a that in fourth grade."

"Yes, but now you're in eighth grade; you should know more than the name, Pavi, now focus! You're going to pass eighth grade history with straight A's if I have to keep you up all night! Now, what countries were the axis powers?"

"Italy…um…Japan…and-a…Russia?"

"You forgot one and Russia was only part at the beginning of the war, then they switched to help the allies."

"Austria?"

"Germany. Let's move on to literature…The Great Gatsby."

"I-a hate that book." Pavi whined.

"I don't care, you're going to learn it, I care about you and I want to see you succeed." Marni sighed. But Pavi couldn't focus on the boring book he was forced to read, the whole time he was just staring at Marni. Damn, she was beautiful. He couldn't imagine anyone more perfect than her and she was so smart too, not even to mention how nice she was. "Pavi…Pavi? Pavi!" Marni's voice called him back to reality.

"Hm?"

"If you want, maybe we can read it together, that would make it less boring, perhaps." Marni smiled. Pavi smiled a little. He wished Marni would do more than read to him though. He felt his heart quicken in his chest imagining her on his bed in the lingerie he'd seen her wear when he spied on her and Luigi. She was truly amazing. "Oh Marni…" He gasped softly.

"Hmm?" Marni asked.

"Um….Nothing…" Pavi blushed brightly. Marni giggled a little, he was so cute when he blushed.

"You're adorable, Pavi, come here!" Marni said, pulling Pavi close to her and hugging him tightly. Pavi grinned a little when his head was pressed against Marni's breasts. He'd have to remember this feeling so he could daydream about it in school instead of paying attention like he was supposed to.

Meanwhile, Luigi couldn't get Marni off his mind, she was what he looked forward to everyday, she was the reason he got up in the morning anymore. He couldn't stand it when she spent time with Pavi. The little brat was stealing all her attention, just like he'd stolen dad's attention! The little brat was systematically ruining Luigi's life and he'd be damned if he was going to let Pavi do that with no consequences. That little fucker was going to pay, he'd be the one Luigi would take out his frustration at Marni's inability to make a decision on.

Marni had no idea that anything was even wrong with Pavi; he hid what Luigi did to him very well behind that stupid, lovable smile and his adorable behavior. Marni didn't have any reason to believe that Luigi would do anything bad to Pavi. He was, she reasoned, just threatened because Pavi was such a cute kid. But deep down, Marni thought, Luigi must be a good big brother who would do anything in his power to keep Pavi safe and happy. "Why don't we take a break for a while and you and me and Luigi and Mellie can go do something fun?" Marni smiled, standing up.

"Um…I-a…I'm actually feeling a little sick-a I think I'll-a just lay down for-a a while." Pavi muttered, walking over to his bed.

"You were fine a minute ago…" Marni said. "Do you not want to spend time with me?"

"No! That's-a not it! I…I want-a to spend time with-a you, but…but…"Pavi struggled to find words to explain to Marni why he didn't want to, but in the end he couldn't. "I'll-a go get my coat…" He sighed miserably as he walked to one of his four wardrobes and pulled out a light jacket.

"Okay, don't worry, Pavi, we'll have fun." Marni giggled, walking off to tell Luigi and Carmella her plan. Within less than a half hour, Pavi was stuck in the back seat of Marni's red sports car with Carmella kicking her legs and singing 'merry unbirthday' from the Disney adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Pavi gritted his teeth in annoyance. How could Carmella be so cheerful when Luigi was in the car with them sitting up there with Marni, looking equally annoyed at having the two annoying kids with him. They really didn't know where they were going; all they knew was that they were stuck in the car together just to make Marni happy.

"You know what we should do?" Marni chirped. "We should go visit your dad at his office and see if he'd like to come with us! Maybe he knows a place outside the city where we can have a picnic or something."

"Nah, pop's probably busy with something and there really aren't any good picnic places around." Luigi shook his head. "We should go somewhere were Pavi and Carmella will be entertained so we can have some alone time to talk." Luigi said to Marni, thinking that Pavi and Carmella weren't paying attention and wouldn't realize they were being talked about. He was half right, Mellie was too busy with about the fiftieth chorus of 'merry unbirthday', however, Pavi heard what Luigi was saying.

"Or-a maybe we should-a go out to lunch together." He suggested, not wanting Luigi to be allowed to get Marni alone again. Luigi would have beaten the living hell out of Pavi if Marni hadn't been in the car.

"Great idea, Pavi!" Marni giggled happily. "How about Chinese?"

With that decision, the Largo family minus Rotti was off to the nicest Chinese restaurant in the city, they were seated immediately and treated like the royalty they were while they were there, it was wonderful to be having lunch with Marni, she was the Largo siblings' favorite person for different reasons for each one, but she was their favorite person nonetheless.

The conversation was a strange one. Carmella kept telling everyone that there was a Jabberwocky in her closet plotting her demise, Luigi tried to whisper a few things to Marni, but Pavi always interrupted with questions about Marni's life. "So-a, this Magdalene Defoe girl you're-a teaching, have-a you ever thought of-a getting her eyes fixed?" he asked.

"That's a good idea, Pavi! I should talk to your father about that, I'll bet he can help her." Marni exclaimed. Luigi rolled his eyes. He could have thought of that. Pavi was an idiot who had very few good ideas. It figured that Marni would be around for one of them and treat the kid like a friggin' genius.

Later that night, Marni was in bed with Rotti, they'd just finished up and they were talking. "I just adore your children, Rotti, especially Pavi. He's so cute! But you should really take an interest as a father in his school work, he's struggling with it. Just today, he was telling me the Holocaust happened because, and I quote 'Hitler was a douche bag'. He really needs help with his studies."

"Marni, Pavi's not a bright boy, we just have to accept that and hope that he doesn't squander his inheritance after I die because he's not smart enough to hold down a job." Rotti shook his head.

"Well, I just think that if you help him instead of putting him down, he could be an intelligent young man…"Marni began.

"I didn't ask what you thought, though, did I!?" Rotti asked, getting angry now. "I won't have you telling me how to raise my children!" He raised a hand to Marni for the first time in their relationship, but stopped himself before he slapped her. "I'm sorry, darling, I overreacted. Let's just put this behind us and forget about Pavi for now."

Marni sighed. "I think I'm going to go to bed…" She said, getting up and putting on her robe to go to her own bedroom. On her way there she heard sobbing from Pavi's room.

"Pavi? Honey? Are you okay?" Marni asked, knocking on the door and opening it. There was Pavi, sitting on his bed sobbing like a little kid. "Is there something you need to talk about?"

"No-a… I'm fine…" Pavi said softly, shaking his head. "I'm-a just…sad about-a….um…um….my-a…mother." He lied.

"Aww, Pavi, don't worry, she's in a better place now, come here…" Marni said softly, hugging him again.

"That's not-a really why I'm-a sad…someone is-a…hurting me" Pavi said softly.

"Shh, I'll make it all better; nothing can hurt you while I'm here, Pavi…" Marni said softly, still hugging him tightly, she began to sing softly to him, a song her mother had sung to her as a child, a song from a very old musical. "Nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around, nothing's gonna harm you, darling, not while I'm around…"

Pavi felt his eyelids growing heavy as Marni's sweet, beautiful voice carried him off to sleep. She laid him down and pulled the covers up to his chin and kissed him on the forehead. "Good night, Pavi…Sleep well."


	4. Chapter 4

When Pavi woke up the next morning, Marni was there waiting for him with a question. "Pavi, who's hurting you?" She asked, grabbing his shoulders gently. "You can tell me, I can help you." She said, trying to smile but unable to. It made her sick to her stomach to think of someone abusing a child, especially a child she cared about.

"Well….I…." Pavi began, but suddenly little Carmella ran into the room, sobbing with fright, she immediately latched on to Pavi's leg and began tugging at the red silk pajama pants he wore.

"Pavi! Pavi! The Jabberwocky is after me, you hafta come fight him!" Mellie whimpered, trying to drag her big brother off the bed.

"I…alright…" Pavi shook his head, getting up and taking Mellie by the hand, walking back to her room with her. Marni watched and wondered why anyone would ever want to hurt such a sweet kid. She decided to first see if it was someone in the house, starting with Luigi. Marni was sure Luigi would tell her the truth; after all, she loved and trusted him. Why would he ever lie to her? She headed to his room and knocked on the door.

"Luigi, it's me, Marni, are you there?" She asked, pushing the door open a little. Luigi was inside reading a book. Marni walked over and leaned over him from behind, covering his eyes with her hands. "Guess who?" She giggled.

"Marni…" Luigi smiled warmly up at her, grabbing her forearm gently and pulling her hand to his mouth, kissing the palm of her hand.

"I'm actually here about something serious…I think someone is abusing Pavi." Marni said, sounding very concerned.

"…."Luigi stopped for a minute, could he really lie to the woman he loved? Yes. That little fucker was going to ruin his life if he didn't, Marni would never love him again if she knew what he was doing. "I'm not sure. The kid seems fine to me, are you sure he isn't just lying for attention?"

"He was in tears, Luigi, he was crying hysterically last night when I talked to him. I stayed up with him all night even after he went to sleep just to make sure he was okay. I can't understand who'd ever want to hurt him." Marni shook her magnificent head. "Well, if you don't know who's behind this, I'll have to find out myself." With that, she walked out of the room and towards Pavi's room. "Hey, kiddo, want a ride to school?" She asked.

"Okay." Pavi smiled. "I'll-a just get dressed then." He said, going to one of his wardrobes and pulling out a school uniform. He dressed quickly and ran to get his school things. He skidded out the door in his hurry to get to Marni's car as if he were afraid the offer would be revoked.

But that wasn't the case, Marni was right there, waiting in the car dressed nicely in her favorite short black dress. She only wore that when she was going to do something important. Pavi wondered if maybe her student had a recital or something that day. He had no idea she planned to go into his school and interrogate the headmaster about how Pavi was treated at school. Marni was dressed so nicely in order to look important and intimidating, a woman who knew what needed to be done and wasn't afraid to do what it took to get what she wanted. Heads would roll when Marni got her answer.

"So, Pavi, have you got a girlfriend at school?" Marni asked conversationally.

"No…" 'But I've slept with half the girls in my grade…' Pavi added in his mind, he was never ashamed of this before, but with Marni he was, like she made him change for the better.

"A boyfriend, then?" That was normal too nowadays.

"No…" 'But I've slept with a few of them too…' Pavi looked at the floor of the car.

"Any secret crushes? You can tell me, I'm cool!" Marni giggled.

"Yes, but I can't-a tell you who, only that she's-a really pretty and really nice…" Pavi smiled brightly up at Marni, he idolized her. She was perfect, probably the most perfect person in the world. She was slender but still had good sized breasts, nice round hips, long slender legs and arms, a pretty face with a cute nose and pretty eyes, pretty dark hair, there was no one in the world prettier than Marni DiAngelo, at least not in Pavi's mind.

"I see." Marni smiled. "Well, here we are. Want me to walk you to your first class?" She asked, smiling warmly at Pavi.

"N…No thanks, mama Marni." Pavi said, his voice trembling a little as he spoke. He knew his teacher would have some words for Marni about Pavi's behavior in school as well as his slipping grades.

"Alright then, I'll see you later." Marni said, kissing him on the head and unlocking the car door so he could get out. Pavi scrambled out of the car, grabbing his bag and heading into the building. When she was sure he was past the lobby, Marni strode in looking very important and powerful and of course everyone in the school knew she wasn't pretending when she came in like this. She'd been in the news before because she was dating Rotti Largo. She was immediately seen by the headmaster himself.

"Miss DiAngelo! What a pleasant surprise, come on in and sit down, would you like anything? Coffee? Tea? Water?" The man groveled. Marni put up a hand, saying she'd have none of it. "What brings you here, Miss DiAngelo?"

"I'm not the type of girl to beat around the bush, so I'll just come right out and say it. Someone is abusing Pavi and I think it may be a member of your faculty or one of your students." Marni said bluntly. "Now I want to know what you can do about this because no matter what you or his father think, he is an amazing kid and doesn't deserve to be treated like this!"

"Miss DiAngelo, I can assure you, all of our faculty is screened very carefully before we accept them onto our staff, it couldn't be one of them." The headmaster fumbled for words as Marni stared him down. "But…Your concerns are noted and we will indeed look into this unfortunate incident."

"See that you do. And if I find out who did it and it is someone from this school, I will pull my stepson out of this school like that" She snapped her fingers for emphasis. "I don't care what Rotti has to say about it, don't think I won't, you'll have no more business from the Largos." She added curtly. "Good day, sir." With that, she got up and walked out of the office.

About an hour later, Pavi felt his heart sink when there was a call over the school's PA system 'Pavi Largo, report to the guidance office immediately.' "Oh fuck." He groaned, getting up from where he'd been kneeling in front of an older boy in an empty classroom. "Sorry, I have-a to go." He said, wiping his mouth off, getting his jacket back on and bolting from the room. Pavi walked slowly to the guidance office. He'd been found out, he knew it, he was going to be expelled and his papa would beat him for it. "You-a wanted to see me?" He asked, walking into the guidance office.

"Pavi…Your stepmother was in to see the headmaster today; she said you told her someone was hurting you. Is it someone in the school?" The guidance counselor asked.

"No…" Pavi replied. "I can't-a tell you who it is-a. If-a I wouldn't tell Marni, what-a the hell makes you think I'd-a tell you?"

"Pavi, if you don't tell me, I'll find out somehow and then whoever it is will be in worse trouble. If someone is hurting you, you shouldn't protect them." The counselor told him.

"I'm-a not trying to protect anyone, you-a moron! I'm-a trying to keep myself from being killed-a!" He replied, annoyed that this ridiculous person wouldn't leave him the hell alone. "I think-a I'm sick, I'm-a gonna go call my step mom to come get-a me." He finally decided, getting up and walking out of the office as the counselor yelled at him to come back. He walked out of school and ran to the gardens, sitting alone out there, resting for once; he felt a little better now that he was away from people who just wanted to question him about things he would never answer. He wanted desperately for someone to find out and help him, but he couldn't tell anyone because Luigi would probably kill him then.

At that exact moment, Marni was just pulling up to the Geneco building. She walked up to the receptionist and smiled. "Hi Helena, I'm here to speak to Rotti, is he in?" she asked.

"One moment, Miss DiAngelo." Helena chirped, getting on the phone and calling up to Rotti's office. "Mr. Largo, your girlfriend is here to see you."

"Send her up, then!" Rotti called back, in a good mood now that Marni was here to see him.

Marni walked over to the elevator and got in, taking it up to the top floor where Rotti's office was. She walked in slowly and sat down on the couch in front of Rotti's desk. "Rotti, we need to talk about Pavi again."

"What's he done now? More stupid answers when you go over his homework with him?" Rotti asked, rolling his eyes.

"He told me last night that someone is hurting him, are you hurting him, Rotti?" Marni asked. "Because if you're hurting that sweet little kid, I'm leaving you."

"How dare you suggest I'd do such a thing to my own son!? I'd never do that to Paviche, I love my children." Rotti seemed furious that his love for his kids was being challenged, but he wouldn't do anything to Marni, her heart was in the right place and she seemed to honestly care. "But I'm glad you brought this to my attention, did you go to the school with this?"

"Yes, I had a very stern talk with that headmaster this morning." Marni replied. "I told him we'd pull Pavi out of that school if someone there was abusing him and nothing was done about it."

"How did he respond?"

"He seemed scared; he doesn't want to lose our business so he'll sort this out if it's a problem at school." Marni replied with a satisfied smile. "I'm sure that's where it's happening, because I believe you when you said you didn't do anything and I also spoke to Luigi and he said he wasn't doing anything either and deep down I think he really cares about his little brother."

"Very well. I'm very busy today Marni, so would you mind reading to Carmella tonight? She doesn't like it when the GENterns read to her, she only likes it when I do, maybe she'll like it when you read to her. Also I can trust you to deal with this Pavi issue, right? Just follow the kid around when he's at home and meet with his teachers at school." Rotti requested.

"Alright." Marni nodded. "I love you." She said, walking over and kissing Rotti, hugging him tightly before leaving the office.

Later that night, Marni was sitting on the bed in Carmella's room reading to her, smiling as the little girl snuggled in her lap, yawning sleepily. "'twas brillig and the slithy toves did the gire and gimble in the wabe, all mimsy were the borogoves and the momraths outgrabe, beware the Jabberwock, my son, the teeth that bite, the claws that catch, beware the jubjub bird and shun the frumious bandersnatch…" She read, she began to read the next line, when she noticed little Mellie had fallen fast asleep. She picked her up, placed her under the covers, tucked her in up to her chin and kissed her on the forehead.

"Done reading to the kid?" Luigi's voice came from the doorway.

"Yes, shall I read to you now?" She asked, playfully, sauntering coyly over to him and kissing him on the lips.

"I have a better idea." He said, scooping Marni up in his arms and carrying her off to his room where he laid her down on the bed and began kissing her. She giggled and ran a hand through his hair. "Marni…I don't want this to ever end." Luigi murmured softly against Marni's lips.

"I don't want it to either, I feel so safe with you, like you'd never do anything to harm me or anyone I cared about." Marni smiled.

Luigi felt a pang of guilt when Marni said that. "Yeah…" was all he said in reply.


	5. Chapter 5

'I promised Marni I'd never hurt her or anything she loved...I love her more than anything...how could I do this knowing it will hurt her...Why can't I stop? This is sick, this is wrong, he's fifteen and he's my brother...Marni is right, only a monster would do this...' Twenty year old Luigi Largo thought as he looked down at the terrified face of his brother. "Shut the fuck up, Pavi, stop crying, it's going to happen one way or another, no matter how much you cry, you just look like a fucking girl when you cry." Luigi said, pinning Pavi down by the wrists. His little brother was stuck beneath him, legs in the air, wrists pinned and whimpering in pain, tears pouring down his cheeks.

"Please-a…I don't want-a this…" Pavi whimpered as his older brother thrust his hips against his. "Please…" He sniffled.

"Consider it a birthday present, little brother." Luigi sneered. It was Pavi's fifteenth birthday after all. With that said, Luigi continued, disgusted with himself. 'This is all Pavi's fault, he's such a little attention whore, I'm just giving him the attention he craves, so this is his fault, I'm not responsible, I'm just doing what he wants. I'm being a good older brother…' He continued. Eventually, Pavi stopped moving and just lay there and took it. "Yeah, that's right; take it like a good boy, little brother." Luigi said coldly.

Finally after what seemed like hours but was really less than one hour, Pavi was allowed to go. He bolted from the room and immediately locked himself in his own bedroom, trembling in fear. He was an embarrassment, an embarrassment to himself, an embarrassment to his family and an embarrassment to the world in general. What kind of person, he reasoned, just lets that sort of thing happen to them and doesn't do anything? He began to cry again as he thought of this. "No. Stop-a crying, Luigi said it makes-a you look like-a a girl."

There was a knock on the door a moment later. "Pavi? Honey? Can I come in?" Marni's voice called softly.

"Fine…"Pavi replied sadly, walking over and unlocking the door. Marni walked in looking magnificent as always in a short white nightdress and matching short white robe. He looked her over as she walked in and blushed a little; every soft curve of Marni's body was accentuated by the short nightdress. He felt a chill from just how ethereal and beautiful Marni looked. She went and sat down on Pavi's bed, patting the empty space next to her. Pavi immediately sat down right next to her.

"So, Pavi how is school?" Marni asked.

"Sucks-a. Everyone is-a mad at me because-a the headmaster asked all of-a the teachers if they were abusing me, then he had-a a school wide meeting about sexual abuse and how it's-a bad…Everyone blames-a me."

"Well, is someone at school abusing you?" Marni seemed genuinely concerned.

"If-a I lie and say-a 'yes' then can-a I switch schools?"

"Pavi…" Marni sighed.

"What!?"

"I just wish I could help you…"Marni said, hugging Pavi tightly against her.

"I…I…y…you can't-a!" Pavi replied, getting up and running from the room.

Marni ran after him for a moment until Luigi came out of his room. "Marni, what's wrong?" He asked, catching her by the shoulders and holding her gently.

"It's Pavi; I think I've upset him. He wouldn't leave the house, would he?" Marni asked, worried about Pavi's safety and wellbeing.

"I don't think so. Pop would be too pissed at him if he ran away, besides, he's not very street smart, he wouldn't know that it's more dangerous out there than it is here…" Luigi replied.

"What do you mean 'than it is here'? Do you…do you KNOW who is abusing him?!" Marni gasped.

"No! I have no fucking idea! He's gonna be fine! Look, let's just go back to my room and wait there, I can get your mind off of him…and…you can get my mind off of him too." Luigi said, trying to feign worry about his younger brother for Marni's benefit.

"No…I…I have to find him, and you have to help me!" Marni told Luigi.

Luigi was about to protest, but then he looked into Marni's big worried tearful eyes and knew immediately that he had to help her. The two of them put on their coats over their night clothes and walked out of the manor into the gardens.

"Pavi! Where are you?" Marni called out, looking under and behind things.

Luigi rolled his eyes and called Pavi's name a few times. Oddly enough, even with his lack of enthusiasm, he was the first one to find Pavi, sleeping under a tree, tearstains on his face and shivering with cold. Did Luigi actually feel bad for his obnoxious attention whore of a little brother? Yes. He did. He felt like a monster for doing this to him. Even if Pavi WAS doing this for attention, Luigi was only contributing with what he did to him. He still couldn't believe he felt bad for the kid, but in the end, that's just what Pavi was, a scared kid who just wanted attention and love and would do anything to get it including put out for half his school and keep a secret from Marni just because Luigi made her happy and Pavi didn't want to ruin that. It was all these reasons that Luigi couldn't believe what he was about to do. He didn't tell Marni he'd found Pavi, he just picked the kid up and carried him off to his bedroom. "I'm sorry, Marni…" He whispered towards the door as he set Pavi down on the bed. The kid stirred a little, but Luigi didn't notice. He unbuttoned Pavi's red silk pajama top and let it fall open, then he began to pull down the bottoms of the pajamas. Pavi opened his eyes and gasped, but Luigi put his hand over his younger brother's mouth. "Scream and I'll kill you." He said, with much less threatening tone to his words than usual. Pavi still took it seriously and kept quiet, just trembling and whimpering softly as his older brother first ran a hand over his small thin body, feeling every inch of him, Pavi was still sort of a runt at age fifteen, he wouldn't reach his full adult height until he was about seventeen, this made it very easy for Luigi to overpower him and do this sort of thing to him. As Luigi forced a rough kiss onto Pavi's mouth and slid his hand into Pavi's underwear, the door creaked open and there stood Marni, staring in shock at what was happening.

"Luigi!? It's been you this whole time!? Oh my god…" Marni gasped, clutching a hand to her chest. "I can't believe it! You…you monster! It's over between us!" She stormed over and slapped Luigi hard across the face before helping Pavi to get his pajamas back on and taking him by the hand, walking the confused fifteen year old out of the room. This left Luigi alone in his room to do whatever he would do without Marni.

Of all the things Luigi hated to do, crying ranked number one. He hated crying, but unfortunately he was an emotional man, so a moment after Marni called him a monster and said it was over, Luigi knew she was right. He needed help. He'd been molesting his kid brother for almost a year now and he'd always known it was wrong, but it had never cost him anything. Now, however, it had cost him the love of his life. It had cost him Marni.


	6. Chapter 6

"Just a few more steps, Mag, you're almost there." Marni smiled confidently at her student as the pretty dark haired girl wandered into Rotti's office, holding Marni's hand tightly as though she was afraid to let go. "It's alright, Mag, we're here." Marni smiled, gently letting go of Mag's hand. "Rotti, this is my best friend, Magdalene Defoe." Marni said, smiling. "Mag, this is my boyfriend, Rotti Largo."

"It's an honour to meet you, Mister Largo, Marni's told me so many nice things about you and I've, of course, heard about you on TV." Mag smiled softly as she held out her hand to try and shake Rotti's hand.

"And Marni's told me a lot about you, Miss Defoe, she tells me you're quite the singer. Geneco could use someone with your talents." Rotti smiled, taking Mag's hand and shaking it firmly.

"I'd be honoured, Mister Largo." Mag gasped.

"And of course, as a Geneco employee, you would get any surgery you needed free of charge…provided you sign a contract with us." Rotti said with a grin.

"Well…I've always wanted to see…" Mag said quietly, eyes eerily focused on Rotti. While Mag was blind, her hearing was incredible and she could zero in on exactly where Rotti's voice came from.

"Then I'll give you sight." Rotti replied.

"How wonderful! I'm glad I introduced you too!" Marni giggled happily.

Later that night, Marni was rubbing Rotti's shoulders as they sat together. "So, I was thinking, Marni, I have a doctor friend I think is perfect for Mag. I thought maybe he'd perform her surgery so they could meet." Rotti said, looking lovingly back at Marni.

"Aww, Rotti, that's so romantic! He'd be the first thing she ever saw, what a great story to tell future children." Marni grinned. "I fully support that idea."

"I'm glad you like the idea, I thought it might be nice for our best friends to be dating so we could go double dating." Rotti laughed.

"That sounds like fun!" Marni smiled sweetly.

The next morning, Marni thought her two best friends should meet, so she asked Pavi to come down to the studio where she taught Mag. Pavi, of course, agreed. He owed Marni everything for being there for him and being rescuing him from the abuse he'd gone through for almost a year. The least he could do was meet her best friend. The whole car ride over, Marni talked about how excited she was that her two best friends would finally meet. "You're gonna just love her, Pavi, she's so nice and really pretty too. Also she went through some of the same things you did, so you two should get along well."

Pavi nodded and smiled. "I'm-a sure we will." He grinned. With that said, Marni pulled up to the studio and unlocked the car. She and Pavi got out and walked in. Mag was already there waiting.

"Mag, I brought a friend along who I'd like you to meet. His name is Pavi, he's Rotti's youngest son." Marni said with a smile, walking over to Mag and guiding her towards Pavi.

"Hello, Mag, it's-a nice to meet you." Pavi smiled, taking Mag's hand when she held it out for him.

"I have to go get some things from the storage room, why don't you two talk a little? Get to know each other." Marni smiled.

Mag and Pavi both sat down and began to talk. "So…What do you think of Marni?" Mag asked.

"She's-a the most amazing woman I've-a ever met." Pavi breathed in awe just thinking of Marni.

"I know! She's completely wonderful." Mag gasped.

"She's-a beautiful"

"Nice"

"Smart-a"

"She treats me-"

"Like-a I actually…"

"Matter." They both said at the same time. Then they looked at each other.

"Are-a you in love with-"

"…yes…and you?"

"Yes-a."

"From the first time you met her?"

"How-a did you know?"

"Same. So, Pavi…Marni told me what happened to you…" Mag said softly.

"Did she?" He asked, looking a little upset that she'd told anyone. But he supposed as long as it was just Mag, it didn't matter. After all, Mag seemed nice enough and was quite pretty. Not as pretty as Marni, but still.

"The same thing happened to me when I was your age." Mag said softly. "I couldn't even see who did it and I didn't recognize their voice so I never managed to get them convicted for it…Marni tells me you didn't get any justice either…why not? You could see who did it to you."

"Because-a it was-a my brother…Papa can make scandals like-a that go away with one phone call." Pavi sighed.

"It's not a scandal, Pavi; do you know how badly that can screw up your life if you just bottle it up and never get justice?" Mag said, shocked that Pavi didn't seem to care about his own happiness and safety.

"Marni tried to tell-a my papa, but he just hit her and-a said she must be lying." Pavi said, looking incredibly guilty. "It's-a my fault she got hit."

"No it isn't, it's your father's fault for hitting her and your brother's fault for abusing you." Mag said. "Can I hug you, Pavi?" She asked, holding open her arms for him if he chose to allow her to.

"Of course-a. Anything for-a a bella signora." Pavi said, scooting closer to Mag and putting his arms around her waist as she put her arms around his shoulders.

"Marni was right, you are a cute kid." Mag smiled, letting Pavi go after a few minutes. "Can I see what you look like? If you're as cute as you act, I mean."

"How? You're-a blind…" Pavi asked.

"I need to touch your face." Mag replied.

"Okay-a." Pavi nodded. With that, Mag reached out and ran her hands over Pavi's face, memorizing his nose, his lips, the shape of his eyes, his cheeks, chin and forehead.

"You're so handsome!" Mag smiled.

"Really?" Pavi asked, blushing a little. Of course he knew he was handsome, he had mirrors around all the time to remind him, but to have a beautiful girl call him handsome made him blush. 'So even the blind can tell I'm handsome…I must be then.' Pavi thought to himself.

"Yup. Really." Mag grinned. She was so sure of herself even though she was blind; it amazed Pavi that anyone without sight could be so sure of themselves when they spoke about appearances.

"Are-a you going to meet-a the rest of-a my family?" Pavi asked.

"Probably, your father wants me to sign some contract with Geneco." Mag smiled. "It's all so exciting, I'm going to be a star AND he promised to help me see."

"I'm-a happy for you." Pavi smiled happily.

Marni came back in, smiling at them. "Glad to see you two are getting along so well! I knew you would." She said, setting down some sheet music and placing two music stands across from each other. Soon, she and Mag began singing and Pavi watched and listened intently, it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard in his life.


	7. Chapter 7

"Mag! You came-a! I knew-a you would." Pavi smiled excitedly when he saw Mag walk into the house with Marni.

"Pavi! It's so nice to…well…hear your voice again." Mag giggled, holding out her arms. Pavi walked over and hugged her tightly.

"Tomorrow is the big day…I get my eyes." Mag smiled happily. "I'll see you and Marni face to face! I'm excited!"

"I'm-a happy for you!" Pavi grinned. "Anyway, I'm sure Mellie and-a Luigi will be pleased-a to meet you, let's-a go to the sitting room where-a they are." He added, taking Mag gently by the hand. Marni smiled and put her hand on Mag's back and the two of them led Mag into the room where Luigi, Carmella and Rotti sat. Luigi and Rotti were discussing some figures for the company. Mellie was playing with her stuffed rabbit, singing 'Merry Unbirthday' again.

"Rotti, I brought Mag home with me today, I hope that okay." Marni smiled.

"Of course, darling, I thought she should meet the kids." Rotti grinned.

"Well, she's already met Pavi." Marni smiled. "They've become good friends."

"I see." Rotti smiled. "Well then, Mellie, Luigi, say hello!"

"Pleasure to meet you…" Luigi muttered, still bitter over Marni, not really wanting to waste his time with this new person.

"Daddy!" Mellie whined, but Rotti was too busy talking to Mag about his plans for her being the voice of Geneco. Immediately Carmella took a severe dislike to Mag and swore she'd be even prettier and better at singing than Mag when she grew up so she could get some of daddy's attention back.

Soon Pavi and Luigi were asked to take Mellie upstairs and put her to bed. The brothers walked their little sister up to her room and tucked her in. Pavi sat down to read to Mellie. "You know-a half of these aren't-a even real words, don't-a you, Mellie?"  
"Shut up and read, Cheshire!" Mellie frowned, taking the book from Pavi's hands and hitting him with it.

"Ow! Okay, okay… 'He took-a his vorpal sword in hand, long time-a the manxome foe he sought-a, so rested he by the tumtum tree and-a stood a while in thought.'" Pavi read, Mellie's eyelids began to get heavy and by the second verse Pavi read she was fast asleep. Pavi stood up, put the book down, kissed Mellie on the head and then went to walk out of the room. Luigi stopped him.

"Pavi…" Luigi said softly.

"Don't-a touch me!" Pavi shoved Luigi. Luigi was not normally a man to take being shoved lightly, but for once he didn't react with violence. No, for once he just stood there.

"I…I'm sorry for what I did to you, I never should have touched you…Or at least I should have stopped when you asked me to…" Luigi said, somewhat grudgingly, as though he didn't want to admit he was wrong, but he knew he'd wronged his poor brother so badly that he had to. "I'll make it up to you any way I can."

"You….you what-a?" Pavi asked, taken aback by Luigi's apology, this wasn't like his brother at all. No, there had to be something else. Why would Luigi apologize if nothing was in it for him after all?

"I said I was sorry. You fucking heard me, don't make me fucking repeat myself." Luigi barked.

"Alright-a… But I don't-a forgive you. How could I after what you did-a to me? No. I don't-a forgive you. You'd do it again, I know-a you would!" Pavi hissed, trying not to wake up Carmella with this argument. "Fuck-a you, Luigi! Go die!" Pavi shoved Luigi out of the way and stormed off to his bedroom to be away from Luigi. He'd do anything to get out of this house. When he got to his room, he found Mag there, running her hand over his vanity mirror.

"You know, Pavi, Marni once told me a sheltered rose needs a little room to bloom outside her bedroom. I wonder if a battered child doesn't need some room of his own to grow, to change, to become a man who will make his family proud." Mag smiled in Pavi's direction.

"How-a did you--" Pavi asked.

"I heard you all the way down the hall, Pavi, so when the door opened I assumed it was you. You may not have been shouting, but you'd be surprised how sharp one's hearing gets when they're blind." Mag added, that small enigmatic smile still playing on her lips.

"I don't-a understand, what do you mean-a 'room to grow'?" Pavi looked confused.

"I mean maybe you just need to do things for you, do what you want, don't let people at school or your family push you around so much." Mag said, putting her hands gently on Pavi's shoulders.

Pavi smiled. He understood well enough. "So, tomorrow is-a the big day…wow…will-a you still have-a super hearing?" He asked, smiling up at Mag and gently grabbed her hands in his, clutching them tightly. "Whatever happens, you'll-a always be amazing to me."

"Thanks, Pavi." Mag smiled brightly, squeezing his hands. "I know you can't be there because of school, but come see me while I'm recovering. I want to see you….really see you…" Mag said softly.

"Will-a Marni be there for-a you?" Pavi wondered.

"Of course she will. The surgery was her idea." Mag grinned.

Meanwhile…

"Come on, Marni, I want you back. I'm genuinely sorry, I was sick, it's true, but I'm better now." Luigi was saying softly to Marni outside her bedroom. "I swear, I'll never touch the kid again."

"No. If Pavi didn't forgive you, then neither do I." Marni shook her head, holding up a hand to indicate that she didn't want to hear another word.

"But….I love you." Luigi said softly and sadly, looking deeply into Marni's eyes. That look would have won Marni over…if not for the fact that Luigi had been molesting one of Marni's best friends, someone who was like a son to her.

"How dare you!? If you loved me you'd never have hurt Pavi! You don't love me, you're a monster! And I'm one beauty who can't fall for that sort of beast." Marni shook her head and walked into her room, slamming the door behind her.

Luigi walked sadly away. He wanted so badly to hurt someone, he needed to kill something. He was feeling absolutely terrible. 'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!' he thought. 'Fucking Pavi! I said sorry to the little attention whore, what the fuck more do they want from me!?' He thought. When he walked into his room, one of the gofers his father had assigned to him was waiting there to take his latest orders.

"Need anything, Mister Largo?" The unlucky young man asked.

Luigi rounded on him, laughing hollowly. "Do I need anything? Do I fucking NEED anything?!" He growled, advancing on the poor guy. He grabbed a knife off of the wall and rammed it between the guy's ribs several times, then leaving him to die bleeding on the floor. "I need a motherfucking reason to live…."

Rotti sat in his room talking on his communicator with his best friend. "Nathan, it's Rotti, are you still available for that surgery tomorrow?"

"Sure, Rotti, I'm really looking forward to meeting the girl. Is she nice?" The gentle voice on the other end asked.

"Would I set my best friend up with anything less than the perfect…" 'Well, SECOND most perfect' "woman in the world?" Rotti asked with a grin.

"No, I don't think you'd steer me wrong, old friend." Nathan grinned back. "Anyway, I should go get a good night's sleep if I'm going to perform this surgery, but I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, take care, Nathan." Rotti chuckled good-naturedly, hanging up. He took out a small black box which held a large diamond ring in it. Marni would be getting this on their first double date with Nathan and Mag. Rotti wanted his best friend to be in attendance so he could have a best man lined up with no trouble and he was sure Marni would want Mag to be the maid of honour, so that was at least the main members of the wedding party all at one table, present for the proposal of a life time. Tomorrow would be Marni's lucky day. Unfortunately, Rotti wasn't aware that the events of tomorrow would eventually lead to his life being turned entirely upside down and his heart being shattered.


	8. Chapter 8

"Magdalene Defoe? My name is Nathan Wallace and I'm going to be performing your surgery today. How are you feeling?" The gentle voice said.

"I'm excited." The nineteen year old grinned.

"I'll bet you are, you're finally going to be able to see. I just hope my face doesn't scare you too badly." Nathan laughed warmly. Rotti was right; Mag was pretty and pleasant to be around. But Nathan almost gasped when Rotti walked into the room with the most beautiful woman Nathan had ever seen.

"Marni, I don't believe you've ever met my best friend, Nathan Wallace." Rotti said with a smile. "Nathan, this is Marni DiAngelo, my girlfriend."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mister Wallace." Marni smiled, shaking Nathan's hand warmly.

"Well, um…it's nice to meet you too, Miss DiAngelo." Nathan coughed. "Anyway, if you'd all follow me to the operating room, we can begin the surgery. We have the latest digital cornea technology prepared to replace Mag's old eyes. Not only will she be able to see, but she'll be able to relive her favorite memories over and over again as often as she wants. It's called cornea plus." Nathan smiled, taking Mag's hand and leading her to the operating room where two GENterns helped Mag onto the operating table. Nathan began the surgery. Marni had to look away when Mag's old eyes were cut out and the new ones were placed instead. Within a matter of hours, the surgery was done and Mag opened her brand new eyes for the first time to see the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. Marni DiAngelo leaning over her, smiling along with a handsome doctor with glasses and light brown hair.

"Marni…." Mag breathed when she saw Marni's face. 'My god, she's more beautiful than I ever imagined!' "And you must be Doctor Wallace." Mag added, looking at Nathan now.

"Yes, it looks like the operation was a success." Nathan smiled.

"Rotti and I were wondering if the two of you want to come to dinner with us to celebrate." Marni asked with a bright smile.

"Sure!" Mag grinned.

"Of course!" Nathan smiled.

"Mag, look who I brought to see you." Rotti walked in smiling as he gently shoved Pavi into the room towards Mag.

"Mag! Can-a you see me now, bella?" Pavi asked, walking over to Mag's bedside.

"Yes, and you're even more handsome than I imagined." Mag smiled, reaching out an arm and pulling Pavi close to her.

"Careful, Mag, you'll make Nathan jealous." Marni giggled. Mag had no idea what she was talking about; she didn't realize what Marni and Rotti were trying to do.

That night, Rotti and Marni took Nathan and Mag to a nice Italian place, their favorite one and one of the most exclusive and difficult to get into. The four of them sat down and began discussing the usual topic, Geneco and its bright future. With Mag's pretty face and beautiful voice promoting it, Geneco would skyrocket in public opinion. No one realized that both Mag and Nathan spent the entire time staring at Marni.

Finally, Rotti stood up and tapped his glass. "Nathan, Mag, I have an important announcement to make." Even though he was only talking to the people at his table, the whole restaurant went quiet and stared at him. "I've decided that I want to spend the rest of my life with my dear Marni, so without further ado…" He took out the little black box and knelt down in front of Marni. "Marni DiAngelo, will you do me the honour of becoming Marni Largo?"

Marni began to cry and immediately shouted. "Yes! Of course I will! Oh Rotti!" She almost didn't give him time to slide the ring onto her finger with how fast she began hugging him. Mag and Nathan both gasped, mouths agape until Marni and Rotti turned back towards them.

"Nathan, will you be my best man?"

"And Mag! You just have to be the maid of honour!"

"Do you want the children to be involved in the wedding, Marni?"

"Oh! Wouldn't it be so cute if Mellie was the flower girl? Is Pavi too old to be a ring bearer?"

"Tradition be damned, if you want Pavi to be the ring bearer, then he will be." Rotti smiled.

Later that night, Mag came to Pavi's room and sat on his bed next to him.

"Mag, are-a you crying?" Pavi asked, getting out from under the covers and scooting next to her.

"Yes…Marni's getting married." Mag sniffled.

"Oh no-a!"

"Oh yes… To your father. They want you to be the ring bearer and me to be the maid of honour." Mag said, trying to keep herself from sobbing.

"Well…At-a least she'll-a be happy." Pavi said mournfully.

"Yes, I guess you're right." Mag smiled sadly. "I think they want me to fall for Rotti's friend Nathan…But I can't…"

"You don't-a like men at all?" Pavi asked.

"No…why? Do you?"

"A little, some of them…okay-a, almost as much as I like-a the signoras." Pavi replied.

"Well that's okay." Mag smiled. "Sorry to have woken you…I'll go back to Marni's room now; we're having a sleep over." She giggled.

"Lucky." Pavi laughed.

Outside the room, as Mag headed to Marni's room and Pavi fell soundly asleep, Marni was having a bit of trouble.

"Luigi! Leave me alone! I'm marrying your father and that's that! You lost me when you hurt Pavi!" Marni glared.

"Come on, you fucking slut! I know you want it!" Luigi said, grabbing Marni and forcing her into his room.

"Let me go! I swear I'll…I'll scream!" Marni tried to pull away as Luigi tried to pull off her nightgown.

"Scream and Pavi won't be waking up tomorrow morning." Luigi threatened.

Marni glared and kneed Luigi in the crotch, shoving him and running off back to her room, but not before making sure Pavi's door was locked. She locked herself and Mag in her room and began telling Mag all about what had happened. Mag's face immediately darkened and she unlocked the door, walking towards Luigi's room. She knocked on his door.

"What the fuck do you want, bitch?" Luigi asked.

"You hurt Marni." Mag said simply. "I'm here to make you pay."

"You can't do jack fucking shit to me, little girl." Luigi laughed coldly, even though Mag was only a year younger than he was.

Mag frowned and in a flash, she had Luigi's arm twisted behind his back and had him on his knees. "Are you going to leave Marni alone or do I have to break it?" She asked calmly.

"Alright! Alright! You crazy fucking bitch! Let me go!" Luigi howled with rage and pain.

Mag tossed him to the ground and walked back to Marni's room, walking back in and locking the door. "Goodnight, Marni." She smiled as she got into bed next to Marni and curled up close to her.

Meanwhile, back at his own house, Nathan couldn't get Marni off his mind. He knew he should be thinking about Mag, but no, Marni was the only thing on his mind. No. She was his best friend's fiancée, he had no business thinking about her that way, but he couldn't help it, she was beautiful, funny, nice, just all around perfect. He sorely wished he'd found her first, but how could he compare to Rotti? Rotti could give a girl anything she wanted. He was the richest man in the world and the most powerful. Nathan was just a mildly successful young doctor just out of medical school. He couldn't compare even if he tried. Sure he was better looking, but what was that worth in the end? Rotti was successful and it was obvious he was a good father already just by the fact that he already had three kids. Nathan didn't know that Mellie was a horribly spoiled little brat, Pavi was a complete slut and Luigi was a sociopath, they all were so well behaved around him whenever he came to visit, in fact, he barely knew Pavi at all, Mellie was cute and innocent when she was around her father and Luigi always seemed just a driven young man, a straight shooter who would one day inherit Geneco. How could young, childless Nathan compare to such a perfect family?


	9. Chapter 9

How dare they treat him like this?! That little skank refusing him, her bitch friend beating him up and worst of all that little brat, Pavi, starting all this by crying rape all over the place and getting Luigi in trouble. Little fucking whore. It was his fault anyway, he threatened to tell Rotti about Luigi and Marni and if Luigi couldn't get off on Marni, he'd get off on Pavi. He was feminine enough for Luigi. The little fucker was skinny, long haired and had all that fucking make-up in his room, so he was girly enough that Luigi wouldn't be considered a fag for fucking him. However, somewhere, deep down, Luigi felt sorry for Pavi and wished to god he'd never touched him. He was only fucking Pavi up even worse, who knew what problems he'd develop in the future from what Luigi had done to him. In a fit of self loathing, Luigi hurled the knife he'd been polishing at his bedroom wall where it stuck fast. "Fuck!"

Pavi felt quite strangely today. For some reason, his mind was on Luigi. Obsessing over him. But why? After what Luigi had done to him, he should be the furthest thing from his mind, someone he never wanted to think of again. However for some reason, he felt…dare he even think it…attracted to his older brother. He tossed and turned in his bed as he thought about this. Then, restless, he climbed out of bed and began brushing his long black hair. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore and he got up, heading to Luigi's room. He knocked on the door, trying to hide the unease and nervousness he felt.

Luigi opened the door and glared. "What the fuck do YOU want, Pavi? Haven't you fucking ruined my life enough?"

"And-a you act-a like you didn't-a ruin mine?" Pavi scoffed. "You-a violated me, you bastard. But for some reason, I feel-a….strangely about-a you." He took a step into the room, circling Luigi. "I don't-a know why…"

"Because you're a fucking faggot whore." Luigi sneered. "Now get the fuck out of my room."

"What's-a the matter, Luigi? You wanted me when-a I begged you to stop, you wanted me when-a I didn't want-a you…Why is now any different?" Pavi replied coldly.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, you little freak!?" Luigi shouted, glaring at Pavi. He couldn't help but feel a little desire towards Pavi. He hadn't had anyone since Marni had left him. He needed something to distraction and here was Pavi, offering just such a distraction. The kid was attractive, there was no denying that. He was getting hard just thinking about getting any action. He wasn't in love with Pavi by any stretch of the imagination, he didn't even really like him, he just wanted to get off and the kid was damn attractive. His arousal began to show and Pavi took instant notice of it.

"I see…What's-a wrong with-a you then, Luigi? You seem-a to like-a the idea." Pavi smirked, staring at the growing bulge in Luigi's pants. He sauntered over to his older brother and rubbed him. "You like-a that?" 'What the hell is wrong with me?' Pavi thought. 'He molested me…How can I be attracted to him?' Pavi pulled back a little and turned to walk away, but Luigi grabbed Pavi by the arm and pulled him back into the room, forcing a rough kiss on the kid's lips. Pavi gasped a little and when he opened his mouth Luigi thrust his tongue in and ran it over Pavi's tongue, continuing to kiss him.

"Mmm…Pavi…Get on the bed or I'll make you get on the bed." Luigi panted, grabbing Pavi's shoulders tightly.

"You don't-a even need to ask-a." Pavi whispered as he got into the bed. Luigi pounced on him and began to remove Pavi's pajama top, unbuttoning it fervently. He pulled it off.

"Okay, come on! Pants now, get 'em off!" Luigi barked.

Pavi pulled off his pants and his underwear and lay back. Luigi began to undress too. He got onto the bed, grabbed Pavi and rolled him onto his belly. He yanked Pavi's hips up and began to fuck him hard and fast. Pavi gasped and panted softly, tears of pain welling in his eyes, but he'd wanted it this time, even if it hurt it still felt good in some ways. Pavi felt like he was about to scream from the roughness which caused him agonizing pain, but Luigi seemed to notice he was about to scream. "Bite the pillow, you fucking stupid whore. Don't scream, you'll get me in more trouble!" He glared.

"Okay-a!" Pavi gasped. "You don't-a have to yell-a at me" He hissed, biting down on the pillow and closing his eyes tightly. He'd honestly expected it to feel much better than this. Maybe his sudden longing had been misplaced and Luigi wasn't the one he was looking for. Luigi would never, no matter what the circumstance, be gentle with Pavi, and Pavi needed someone to be gentle with him, he may have enjoyed the pleasure, but he couldn't take the pain all the time. He figured he might as well ask, who knew? Luigi might be gently if he just asked. "Brother, please! Be a little more gentle."

Luigi looked annoyed for a minute before finally breathing deeply. "Fine." He began to go slower, deeper, but still pretty hard. Even just that little change though made it a little more pleasurable. Soon Pavi was more relaxed and enjoying it. Luigi seemed bored though and he quickly sped up and began going rougher again. "You didn't think I'd really go easy one you, did you, Pavi!? This isn't about what you want, it's about what I want and you brought this all on yourself by being such a fucking whore."

Pavi took the abuse silently this time, he didn't ask Luigi to stop, he didn't scream or cry, all he did was just lay there and take it. He'd been responsible this time, he'd wanted it. He'd been a whore for his brother and now he was paying the consequence for doing something so shameful. He should have known Luigi wouldn't be gentle, he should have known Luigi would do this. He should have known Luigi didn't care about how Pavi felt or what he wanted, all Luigi cared about was Luigi.

Marni and Mag would be so ashamed of Pavi if they knew what he was doing. If they knew he'd willingly slept with the man who'd abused him for almost a year. As Pavi thought all of this, Luigi finished up and pulled out. "Now get the fuck out of my room, kid."

Pavi pulled his clothes back on and started to walk out of the room, breaking into a run and bolting back to his own room, flopping down on his bed and hiding under the covers. He didn't even know why. He had no reason to fear Luigi anymore. Maybe he was hiding from himself, maybe he was just so ashamed that he'd given into his urges and that the urges he'd felt were for his bastard of an older brother. Pavi decided he needed a break from thinking about this and walked to Carmella's room.

"Cheshire! Read me some more of my book!" Mellie grinned, pointing to the chair next to her bed where Pavi sat, picking up the book and picking up where he left off the night before.

"And-a as in uffish thought-a he stood, the Jabberwock with-a eyes of flame, came whiffling through-a the tulgey wood and burbled as-a it came." Pavi read. Soon Carmella had again fallen asleep and was snoring softly. Pavi kissed his little sister on her head and walked out of the room. He headed back to his own room, climbing into bed, pulling the covers over his head and falling fast asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Carmella insisted that the entire family and anyone else who was in the house join her in a mad tea party. Rotti finally caved and agreed, so the whole family plus Nathan and Mag who had been visiting, sat at the long dining room table where butlers and maids set out tea kettles, teacups, creamers, sugar jars, jam, butter, bread and little tea sandwiches and petite fours. Pavi sat across from Luigi, Rotti sat across from Mag so they could discuss Mag's contract and her bright future, and little Mellie sat at the head of the table, leaving Nathan and Marni sitting across from each other.

"So…Marni…You…you must be really happy about your engagement." Nathan said with a forced smile.

"Of course I am, Doctor Wallace." Marni said with a smile.

"You know, you can call me Nathan…" Nathan smiled back.

"I know." Marni replied with a playful grin.

"Oh…" Nathan looked disheartened.

"Pavi, no one fucking finds out about last night." Luigi hissed across the table.

"Got-a it." Pavi said, nodding his head. "So…er…what-a do we talk about--"

"CLEAN CUP! MOVE DOWN!" Carmella shouted, this put Marni at the head of the table, Carmella across from Pavi, Nathan across from Mag and Rotti across from Luigi.

"Hi, Cheshire!" Carmella waved at Pavi.

"Hatter." Pavi nodded in greeting.

"So…Mag…you're ah…Marni's student, right?" Nathan asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"Just asking."

"I see. So, why are you a doctor?" Mag asked, forcing small talk.

"I enjoy helping people." Nathan replied bluntly.

"Oh…That's nice." Mag smiled.

"Mmhmm." Nathan grunted is response.

"Quiet fellow, aren't you, Nate?" Mag asked.

"I guess."

"How was your day yesterday?"

"Busy."

"I see."

"CLEAN CUP! MOVE DOWN!" Mellie shouted again.

The whole tea party passed after everyone had moved down at least twenty times, making conversations very difficult to maintain. Nathan was happiest when he was talking to Marni and Marni seemed happiest talking to Nathan too. He was so pleasant, so polite, such a friendly guy. Pavi, Mag and Luigi all picked up on this. Rotti didn't seem to notice and Carmella was too young to understand.

"Marni, you like Doctor Wallace, don't you?" Mag asked that night while she brushed Marni's hair. Both women were sitting in Marni's room in their nightgowns, Mag was long, sweeping and elegant and black, Marni's was short, seductive and alluring in white.

"What do you mean, Mag?" Marni asked. "You know I love Rotti." Marni gasped.

"Marni, you can deny it all you want, but I saw the way you were looking at him today." Mag replied

"Well…Maybe I'm just having second thoughts about this engagement…" Marni said softly. "He hits me when he gets angry at me. I thought I could deal with it because I thought I loved him and I didn't want to leave Paviche and Mellie without a mother figure in their lives, but I can't do this anymore. It's just become too much for me to handle."

"Well you owe it to Pavi to at least tell him why you can't be his mother." Mag said, fluffing Marni's hair a little.

"I'll tell him if I see him before I leave." Marni said sadly. "I kind of didn't want to have to say goodbye to him, it's too painful. He's such a sweet kid."

"It'd hurt him worse if you didn't say goodbye. Imagine him waking up to no mother in the morning one day, he's getting screwed up enough having to be around Luigi, you don't want to make him any worse, do you?" Mag asked.

"You're right, Mag. I'll tell him." Marni agreed. "I'll tell him right now." She got up and walked to Pavi's room and knocked on the door. Pavi opened the door and smiled.

"Hello, Marni, come-a on in!" Pavi smiled brightly, backing out of the way to let Marni in. "So, what-a do you need?" He asked with a soft smile.

"I…have something to tell you, Pavi…" Marni said softly with a sad smile at him.

"Is-a there something wrong?" Pavi asked, looking nervous.

"I can't be your mother." Marni said, tears welling in her eyes.

"Y…You what-a?" Pavi asked.

"I can't be your mother." Marni repeated. "Your father can be cruel…I can't handle how he treats me anymore. He can be nice sometimes, but otherwise, he can be very cruel and I just can't deal with his mood swings."

"Oh…" Pavi said with a despondent look on his face. "Can-a we still be friends?"

"Of course, Pavi. When I move out you'll always be welcome in my home." Marni smiled brightly.

Later that night, Nathan Wallace was woken up by his communicator. "Incoming message from Marni DiAngelo. Incoming message from Marni DiAngelo."

Nathan immediately leapt up to answer it. "Yes? Marni?"

"Nathan…I…I really enjoyed talking to you today and…I thought maybe….we could, you know, get together some time."

"Marni…Rotti is my best friend; I can't betray him like that." Nathan was wrestling with two incompatible desires. The desire to stay friends with his best friend and the desire to have Marni for himself.

"Nathan, I need you." Marni said softly. "You should always be there for someone you care about in their time of need."

"I…alright, Marni, anything for you." Nathan finally gave in. "When do you want to get together?"

"How about tonight? I'll come over right now and make you dinner and we can…talk and stuff." Marni smiled.

"Alright." Nathan replied. He immediately set about getting everything just perfect for Marni's visit. He set out romantic candles on his dinner table and got dressed in his nicest suit. When the doorbell rang, he scrambled to open it as fast as he could to let Marni in. There she stood looking perfect in her little black dress and heels.

"Hello, Nathan." She smiled, walking into the house.

"I know you said you'd cook, but I actually whipped something up just so we could get right to dinner." Nathan smiled, blushing a little.

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Marni giggled.

"Go ahead and sit down and we can eat." Nathan grinned.

Marni smiled back at him and sat down. Nathan set out a nice dinner of potatoes, steak and good wine. The two ate and talked for a while, talking about their lives and about their families and friends. Nathan, it turned out, didn't have any friends besides Rotti, which in Marni's opinion, explained his reluctance to betray Rotti by seeing Marni behind his back. Marni had many friends, her best friends, though, were Mag and Pavi. Nathan wondered how a fifteen year old could be best friends with a twenty-eight-year-old and Marni told him that it was because Pavi was a sweet, friendly, interesting little guy.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to meet him then." Nathan smiled.

"You will." Marni smiled. Then she was silent, just staring into Nathan's eyes. "Hey, you have blue eyes!" She exclaimed after a minute. "I love blue eyes!"

"Yours are prettier, Marni." Nathan said softly, cupping Marni's chin in his hands and leaning towards her. She leaned towards him and their lips met a moment later in a deep passionate kiss. Just like that, Marni felt what she'd never felt before in her life, true love.


	11. Chapter 11

"Pavi, where is Marni?" Rotti Largo asked when he walked into his youngest son's room.

"I 'unno." Pavi shrugged, getting back to trying to concentrate on 'Grendel' for school. "She just-a left and told-a me to finish reading this." The kid didn't even look up from his book, Rotti was surprised, Pavi had never shown much of an interest in schoolwork and now it seemed to be almost all he did when he wasn't reading to Carmella or talking with Mag or Marni. Maybe Marni was right, maybe Pavi was a smart kid who just needed to be given a chance.

"Alright…" Rotti said, backing out of the room. Paviche may not have been as stupid as Rotti had thought, but he was just as weird, with his make-up and too many clothes and how he was always smiling. What sort of teenage boy always smiles? Rotti remembered his teenage years being filled with unnecessary angst, giving him no reason to smile. "Paviche…" Rotti started, then when Pavi looked up, he just shook his head, it was better not to ask. "Never mind. Be a good boy and keep with your studies."

Pavi shrugged and returned to his book. About an hour later, his door opened again and in walked Luigi. Pavi tossed his book aside and sat up. "Need-a something, brother?" He asked hopefully, his eyes wide as he looked up at his big brother.

"Where'd Marni go? Dad's been asking about the bitch all day." Luigi asked. "She's your friend, did she tell you?"

"N…n…no-a." Pavi tried to hide the fact that he knew exactly where Marni was, she was out with Nathan again. With the date of Marni and Rotti's wedding approaching, Pavi wondered when Marni would tell him she planned to call it off. "Anyway-a, why don't-a you make yourself more comfortable?" Pavi asked with a grin.

"Listen, slut, I know you know where Marni is, now tell me before I beat the living hell out of your faggot ass!" Luigi said, grabbing Pavi by the front of his shirt and pulling him to his feet.

"Why-a do you care-a? She left-a you!" Pavi asked, shocked that Luigi cared so much about the whereabouts of a woman who didn't care about him at all.

"Tell me now!" Luigi demanded, slapping Pavi across the face. But the smile never left Pavi's lips, not even as he was being slapped and punched by his older brother. "You're a fucking freak, what's with that stupid smile?!" Luigi sneered in disgust, tossing Pavi aside.

"A smile makes-a everyone prettier and-a far be it from me to deprive-a the world of-a my greatest face." Pavi grinned. He truly was the most attractive member of the Largo family. He would never in his wildest dreams have imagined he'd one day ruin his face and replace it with a woman's.

"Uh-huh, well put that smiling mouth to better use and blow me." Luigi demanded. Pavi was all too happy to comply, getting on his knees in front of Luigi. "That's right, all the way…good boy…" Luigi smirked, gripping Pavi by the hair and pushing his head down further, grabbing the hair tightly and twisting it so it hurt. Pavi gasped softly when his hair was pulled, but shook off the pain and got back to the job at hand. After a while, Luigi finished up in his little brother's mouth and pulled back. "Now tell me where Marni is."

Pavi swallowed and wiped his mouth off. "We're back-a to that again-a?" he laughed, still smiling. "She's-a in love, where-a do YOU think-a she is?"

"It's that Nathan Wallace guy, isn't it?" Luigi frowned. "Fucking loser. If she'd rather have him then me, then he can have her. I could have given her anything she wanted and how does the bitch repay me? She fucking leaves me."

"What part-a of 'you molested me and-a the signoras don't-a like child molesters' don't-a you understand, Luigi?" Pavi asked, that plastered on smile never leaving his face.

"Pavi! Shut the fuck up!" Luigi shouted, slapping Pavi again.

Meanwhile, Nathan and Marni were enjoying a romantic day at Nathan's house, eating together by candlelight in bed. Marni lay back as she thought of how happy Nathan made her, much happier than Rotti made her. Nathan never hit her or yelled at her or insulted her intelligence. He was the perfect man in her opinion. So what if Rotti had more money? Nathan was smarter, more fun and kinder than Rotti ever was or would ever be. Also, not that Marni didn't love Paviche and Mellie, but she did want to have kids of her own and she felt it wouldn't be fair to Pavi and Mellie to have to share their mother's love with someone their mother was obligated to love more.

Nathan, on the other hand, was far from relaxed as he felt horrible for betraying his best friend by dating his fiancée. "Marni…I….I love you, but I feel like I'm betraying Rotti by doing this with you…"

Marni giggled warmly. "Don't feel bad, Nathan, he lost me whether or not I met you the moment he raised a hand to me."

Knowing that Rotti had hurt Marni now, Nathan didn't feel so bad about sleeping with her. He turned towards her and ran a hand gently over the side of her face, kissing her. "So, Marni…Now that you don't want to marry Rotti….I mean, I know we haven't known each other that long, but I thought maybe you would want to marry me? I…I don't have a ring or anything because I felt so guilty about asking you to marry me…" Nathan stammered out his proposal.

"Oh Nathan! When can we be married!?" Marni squealed happily.

"I…I suppose as soon as possible." Nathan smiled brightly. He'd never been happier in his life; he had the love of a beautiful woman and would very soon be sharing his life with her. Marni couldn't have been happier either. She just hoped Rotti would still allow Pavi and Mellie to be involved in the wedding.

Later that night, Marni returned home to find Rotti, Luigi, Pavi and Carmella all up late waiting for her. Pavi gave her a look that said 'I didn't tell them, I swear to god.' Mellie peeked curiously at Marni from under thick eyelashes, not knowing what was going on.

"Marni…We need to talk. Luigi told me you've been out with Nathan Wallace. I don't want to believe you would cheat on me, Marni, but I'm starting to worry." Rotti said slowly, dangerously. Pavi, Marni and Luigi all knew what was coming. They all knew Rotti wasn't above disciplining Marni in front of people.

"Papa…Please-a don't do this." Pavi asked, walking towards Rotti and putting a hand of his arm. "It's-a not what-a you think! Right, Marni?"

"Paviche! Don't make me punish you too!" Rotti growled, tossing Pavi away from him.

"Rotti. It's exactly what you think. I love Nathan Wallace and it's him I'll be marrying in a week. Not you. I'm leaving." Marni said softly. "I'll send for my things. Mellie, Pavi, I still want you two to be involved in my wedding, that is, if it's okay with your father." Marni added, business like.

"They will be." Rotti added coldly, thin-lipped as though fighting back angry tears.


	12. Chapter 12

Mag sat in the dressing room at the church, brushing Marni's hair for her. Marni looked radiant in her pure white wedding dress. Mag almost confessed her love for Marni right there and then. Marni's mother was also in the room, making a few last minute adjustments to the dress.

"Magdalene, dear, would you mind threading this needle for me? Your new eyes are just so much sharper than these old things." Marni's mother asked, holding out the needle and thread. Mag shook off her trance as she'd been looking at Marni and nodded her head.

"Of course, Mrs. DiAngelo." Mag said softly, taking the needle and threading it expertly. "There you are." She smiled politely, handing the old woman her needle back, now threaded.

"Thank you, dear." Mrs. DiAngelo smiled. "Oh, Marni, there was a charming young man looking for you earlier, he said he wanted to wish you luck now because his father told him he isn't to talk to you during the ceremony. He had the cutest little accent too."

"Aww, Pavi wanted to wish me good luck?" Marni smiled. "Well, if you see him, tell him I said thank you."

"Rotti's son? That was Rotti Largo's little boy?" Mrs. DiAngelo asked. "I'm surprised I didn't recognize him, I've heard so much about him from you. It's these old eyes again, if I wasn't too old to matter, I'd go in for that surgery Magdalene had."

"Mom, you're not old." Marni smiled, "You're not even seventy yet."

"I'm so glad you found that Nathan fellow, I didn't like you dating someone who is almost my age." Mrs. DiAngelo smiled. "People were at the house every day asking me if you were some gold digger. Well, anyway, it was good of you to marry for love rather than money. I'm so proud of you."

Marni smiled at her mother. Meanwhile, Mag helped Marni to zip up her dress. She couldn't believe it, she'd actually seen the woman she was most attracted to in the entire world naked and she never would again. Marni loved Nathan, not Mag and there was nothing Mag could do about it. Soon, Marni was all ready for her big day. When she was all dressed and looking perfect, the door to her dressing room opened and in walked Pavi holding little Carmella by the hand. "You look-a so perfect!" Pavi gasped, smiling brightly at Marni.

"Alice! Alice! Will it be tea time soon?" Mellie asked, clinging to Marni's dress and pulling it gently.

"Hello again, young man, you must be Paviche." Marni's mother smiled down at Pavi. "And this little lady must be Carmella." She added, kneeling down at eye level with Mellie.

"Yes-a, we met briefly in-a the hallway." Pavi smiled. "Say hello, Mellie, be nice, this is-a Marni's mama."

"Hello Marni's mama." Mellie giggled happily. "I get to wear a top hat today 'cause I'm the flower girl. Don't I look just like The Mad Hatter?"

Pavi smiled at Mellie, she really was adorable. He had no idea that in a few years he'd hate her and consider her competition for ownership of Geneco. "Well-a, it's time Mellie and I went-a to get ready, we'll-a have to head down the aisle soon." Pavi grinned, picking Mellie up and carrying her down stairs so her little pink flower girl dress didn't drag on the dusty stairs.

"Thanks so much for being my best man, Rotti, I know you're upset about Marni, but you'll never know how much this means to me, you're my only friend and with both of my parents dead, you're all I have besides Marni of course." Nathan smiled pleasantly at his best friend as Rotti helped Nathan adjust his coat. Rotti didn't speak at all, he just grunted in response to Nathan's pleasantries and Nathan knew it was best not to push the issue.

When Nathan and Marni had both finished getting ready, the wedding began. Nathan walked down the aisle first, standing at the altar and smiling. Next came Mag and Rotti, Rotti stood beside Nathan and Mag stood across from the two of them. Pavi walked next to little Carmella, he carrying the two rings on a satin pillow and Mellie sprinkling rose petals on the ground in front of Marni, who followed behind them with her father. When the all arrived at the altar, Marni and Nathan looked deeply into each other's eyes and said their vows, smiling lovingly the whole time. Finally they exchanged rings and kissed passionately, more passionately than Pavi had ever seen anyone kiss anyone in his entire life. If looks could kill, Rotti would have had to plead guilty to murder. Even poor Mag couldn't keep from looking very jealous of Nathan. Pavi hid his envious glances well because he'd made his peace with the fact that he could never have Marni because he was only a little boy to her, even at the halfway mark of fifteen.

Finally when the ceremony ended, the wedding party headed to the reception at the nicest place in the city, courtesy of Geneco. Mag, Marni, Nathan, Rotti and Marni's parents all sat up at the head table. Carmella sat at the kiddie table with Marni's nieces and nephews and other children. Pavi sat with Luigi and a few of Marni's friends and other students who Luigi was trying to warm up for some fun. Pavi tried to get in on the conversation, but the women were all over twenty, leaving Pavi as 'the cute little kid' at the table, much to his dismay. He was slightly happier when he got hugged against a few chests for being 'so adorable!'. Luigi looked slightly jealous and eventually excused himself, dragging Pavi with him.

"You. Me. Bathroom. Now." Luigi hissed bluntly in Pavi's ear.

"You know-a you don't-a even have-a to ask." Pavi replied with a grin as Luigi walked into the men's room and locked the door to the entire bathroom.

"If anyone interrupts us, I'll fucking kill them." Luigi muttered as he propped a chair up against the door as an extra precaution.

"Not-a to rain on-a your parade, but won't-a this ruin Marni's wedding?" Pavi asked. "I mean-a, if-a they caught us like this…"

"The bitch deserves it. Now get on your knees and get me ready." Luigi demanded. Pavi did as he was told, getting down on his knees and undoing Luigi's pants. He leaned forward and took him into his mouth. Luigi grabbed the back of Pavi's head and pushed him down further. "There you go…oh god! You're getting better at this, been practicing a lot at school, you slut?"

Pavi nodded.

"Good…Alright, that's enough, now stop and bend over the sink. Good…" Luigi said as he gave a thrust and grabbed Pavi's hips, holding them tightly as he thrust his hips against his younger brother's.

"Luigi! I really-a think we-a ought to...ah! Stop-a doing this and-a think about…ooohhh…M…M…M…Marni." Pavi suggested, eyes widening with each painful thrust as his body was pressed closer and closer to the marble sink until his head hit the mirror.

"Just shut up and enjoy it." Luigi replied, his thrusts getting more and more urgent as he kept going harder and faster. Finally he released inside of Pavi, pulled out, cleaned himself off and unlocked the door, walking out and nearly bumping into Nathan. Pavi quickly pulled his pants back on before Nathan noticed anything.

"I was-a just leaving." Pavi laughed nervously, walking towards the door.

"I'm just here to smooth my hair back…" Nathan replied. "You don't really have to leave; in fact, I kind of wanted to meet you. Marni talks so much about you and always says how great you are and I just wanted to meet the kid he thinks so highly of."

"Oh, okay-a…well…my name-a is Paviche Largo, but I like-a to be called 'Pavi' because-a it sounds better. I'm-a in ninth grade at private school and-a I'm Rotti Largo's youngest and favorite son." Pavi introduced himself.

"I see…well, I'm Nathan Wallace, I'm a doctor who just finished medical school and I'm…well…I hope I still am, your father's best friend." Nathan smiled. "So, Pavi, what is it about you that Marni thinks is so amazing? I mean, what do you do?"

"Well, I-a mostly…" Pavi wanted to lie so Nathan wouldn't tell Marni about all his failings. "I do-a my homework and-a I read to my little sister and-a I take care-a of how I look." He really did do all of that, but his primary focus was usually getting laid, that was a fact he preferred to hide from anyone who could tell Marni, since she was the only person who made him feel ashamed of that fact.

"Well, it truly is an amazing kid who can focus so diligently on his studies and his family." Nathan smiled. "I guess Marni was right about you."

Pavi grinned and nodded, heading off to the grand hall where the reception was taking place. Marni and Nathan had their first dance together, then Marni danced with her father, then everyone got up and danced. Luigi found some slutty friend of Marni's, Marni danced with Nathan, Rotti stood off to the side, as did Mag, both of them politely turning down offers to dance. Pavi danced with his little sister, letting her stand on his feet while they danced. "Faster, Cheshire! Spin me around."

"Okay-a, Mellie." Pavi smiled, picking her up by the waist and spinning her around. "There-a you go." For once, Pavi didn't mind that his shoes were getting scuffed from Carmella standing on them. He was being a good big brother, just like Luigi never was for him.

When the dancing had ended, Mag was asked to make a speech because Rotti hadn't prepared one. "When I met Marni, my world was a dark, frightening and lonely place. I couldn't see, but I also couldn't feel anything. But then, one day, a ray of sunlight burst into my world when my mother took me for singing lessons and I met Marni DiAngelo. I was fourteen years old then, Marni was twenty three. Marni was always there for me, she did everything for me, treating me like a little sister to her. Then, one day she brought me to the hospital to get me a surgery that she'd arranged for, a surgery that would lead me to become a star. It was there that she met her amazing husband, Nathan Wallace, the doctor who gave me my eyes. So…"Mag began to cry. "Nathan and Marni, for lighting up my dark world, here's hoping you two have all the happiness in the world, may you light up each other's lives as much as you lit up mine."

Everyone got up and clapped after that emotional speech. Marni and Mag hugged tightly and then Mag was asked to get up and sing a song for the new couple. Everyone was too busy listening to Mag's beautiful song to notice Rotti glaring nastily at the happy couple as though wishing them nothing but misery, even if he had to create the misery himself.

_A/N: Sorry about taking a while to update, I do try to update every day, but some days, like tomorrow, it might be a bit impossible, so please bear with me if there is no update tomorrow._


	13. Chapter 13

"So Marni's got some news for us…" Mag smiled. "Do you know what it is, Pavi?"

"I'll-a bet she's-a going to adopt-a me." Pavi smiled brightly "She and Nathan will need-a a good son to take care of-a their other children when-a they have them."

Mag sighed and shook her head. "Pavi, I don't think they're going to adopt you. No, I think they're going to have a baby of their own."

Pavi's face fell. "Papa's been-a hitting me and yelling at-a me a lot more since Marni left-a us."

"I'm sorry, Pavi." Mag said softly. "Maybe you should tell your counselor at school, I'm sure they can get you moved to a foster home or something, I mean, between Luigi and your father it shouldn't be hard."

"No…I don't-a want-a to live anywhere but home or with Marni." Pavi replied.

"No, I really think you shouldn't be living with your father and brother anymore, you and Carmella shouldn't be in a house with people like that." Mag said, shaking her head. "Even if you had to come live with me for a while, it'd be better than taking that kind of abuse in a home where they don't treat you well or even seem to love you."

"No, everyone loves The Pavi; they just do it because they're upset about Marni leaving us." Pavi insisted.

Mag sighed. "Alright then…I'm not going to bother you with it, then. Let's just get to Marni's and see what news she has for us." Mag looked exasperated at Pavi's lack of concern for himself.

"Oh, look! We're-a here! It's-a not as nice as-a my father's house, but it's-a still nice." Pavi smiled approvingly at the house. He and Mag walked up to the gate and rang the bell.

"Who is it?" Nathan's voice came, bright and happy, through the speaker.

"Mag and Pavi!" Mag chirped back happily. Everything in Mag's life was wonderful right now, she was a star, everyone knew her name and she had just had her debut at The Genetic Opera one day after the wedding. Her rise to stardom had been a quick and happy one and she felt like nothing in the world could bring her down.

"Come on in, guys, Marni and I have some very exciting news!" Nathan opened the gate for them and the two walked up towards the house where Nathan and Marni answered the door together. "We're so glad you two could make it." Nathan beamed at the two. Mag gave a small smile back and then a big dazzling grin at Marni. Pavi smiled brightly and looked hopefully up at Nathan and Marni. The couple led Pavi and Mag into their sitting room where they all sat down in front of the fire and began to talk.

"So, what-a is this good news you told-a us about?" Pavi asked. He was sitting cross legged on the floor as he liked it down there; chairs were often too cushy and made it difficult to want to get up.

"Yes, we're interested to know!" Mag smiled brightly from her seat on the couch next to where Pavi sat on the floor.

"We're going to have a baby soon!" Marni giggled, but Pavi noticed a worried look on her face as though the news were not as good to Marni as it was to Nathan.

"What? Already!?" Mag gasped excitedly. "Wow! I can't believe it!"

"If-a there's anything I or-a Geneco can do for-a the baby, let-a me know!" Pavi smiled brightly, a slight look of concern at Marni's unhappiness crossed his face though.

"Nathan, Mag, can you excuse me and Pavi for a minute, we need to talk about his situation a little." Marni said, still smiling.

"Of course, love." Nathan smiled. "Maybe Mag wants to see the baby's room so she can give some opinions on what to put in it."

"I'd love to!" Mag grinned as she followed Nathan upstairs.

When Marni was sure they'd gone all the way upstairs and couldn't hear her, she walked over to Pavi and sat down on the floor next to him, beginning to sob. "Pavi, it's not Nathan's baby…"

"Oh no-a…Not-a Luigi's!" Pavi gasped.

"No, it's your father's." Marni sniffled. Pavi looked at her and hugged her tightly.

"Don't-a worry Marni, just-a tell him, he'll-a send you and Nathan support money and-a everything, he'll-a treat you both really well-a…well…from-a afar anyway, not-a in person, as-a you know." Pavi looked at the ground a little as he spoke.

"Pavi, is Rotti…doing what Luigi did to you?" Marni asked.

"What?! No, no, he's-a not like-a that. He just-a hits me and-a yells at me when-a he's upset ever since-a you left." Pavi said softly, sadly.

"Why?" Marni asked. "It isn't your fault."

"Because-a he's just upset, he doesn't mean-a to hurt me." Pavi said, as though trying to make himself believe it as much as trying to make Marni believe it.

"Pavi, that's no reason for you to let him hit you or talk badly to you. Is Luigi still hurting you too?" Marni asked, distracted from her problem for a minute.

"Look, let's-a just talk about one thing for now. What have-a you considered about-a the baby?" Pavi asked.

"I'm going to keep it and tell Nathan it's his." Marni said. "I thought of aborting it, but then Nathan would be upset and suspicious…I thought of telling your father, but he'd try and take the baby and then I considered not telling anyone at all, but I thought you had the right to know since it'll be your little brother or sister." Marni told him, sighing sadly again as she looked at the ground.

"Are-a you sure you shouldn't tell-a Nathan it's not-a his?" Pavi asked. "I mean, if-a he found out, he'd-a be crushed."

"I know that, Pavi, but I just can't bring myself to break his heart, this will be my first baby and I really badly wish it was Nathan's too." Marni said softly, looking back at Pavi now.

"I know-a you do. I don't-a blame you after the way-a my father treated you. Anyway, when-a did you actually realize that-a you were pregnant?" He asked.

"About a month ago when I got engaged to your father. On the night he proposed, we slept together and we decided against using protection because we wanted a child that was both of ours…no offense, Pavi, I love you, but you're not really my blood related son and I wanted a child that was a part of me. Anyway, I took the test a few days later and it turned out positive." Marni explained.

"I-a see." Pavi said, looking up at her. "So what-a will you do now? Will-a you let Nathan believe it's-a his?"

"Yes, I think that's for the best…Thank you for listening, Pavi." She hugged him tightly. Meanwhile, Mag and Nathan were just coming back downstairs. "Mag! You just have to be the godmother!" Marni smiled at Mag. "Oh, and Nathan, honey, who else did you tell?"

"Just Rotti and Luigi." Nathan replied happily. "You know, only our closest friends."

Marni winced when she heard the names of her ex lovers. Luigi and Rotti were the last people she wanted to know that she was pregnant and she was very right to be afraid.

Rotti and Luigi sat in the Geneco building's main office talking. They were less than pleased about Nathan's cheery phone call earlier.

"Rotti? It's me, Nathan!"

"Yes?"  
"Marni's pregnant!"

"Wonderful."

"Is Luigi there?"

"Yes. Here he is."

"Hey! Luigi! Marni's pregnant!"

"That's…fantastic" 'fan-fuckin-tastic'

"I'm gonna be a father!"

"Yeah, well, good luck with that" 'douche bag.'

"Can you put your father back on?"

"Sure" 'I hope you fucking choke you motherfucking bastard.'

When they'd finally gotten rid of Nathan, they sat down and got to talking. "You know, pop, we should punish the bitch. Teach her to leave uh…I mean, you, of course, send her sorry ass six feet under."

"Oh? How do you think we should do that, Luigi?"

"We can make Nathan believe he did it. Think about it, we invite Marni to dinner and slip something into her drink to make her sick. When she gets sick, Nathan's got to find a cure and instead of a cure, we sneak some poison into his lap and the bitch is worm food before you know it." Luigi smirked, flipping to the next page of the magazine he'd been reading on business.

"Excellent idea, son, now we just need to wait a while, bide our time so we can catch her at the tail end of her pregnancy, maybe she'll lose the baby too, that would make it even worse for Nathan. Imagine the guilt he'd have to live with." Rotti grinned.

Meanwhile, on the ride back to the Largo manor, Pavi was unusually quiet. When Mag asked why, Pavi just shrugged. He was afraid to tell Mag, he feared she'd either tell someone or convince Marni to tell someone and then he'd have betrayed Marni, she would never trust him again. After an hour of driving, Mag finally gave up on trying to get Pavi to talk and just sat quietly, looking at the floor just as he did. "Goodnight, Pavi, we're still friends, right?" Mag asked when Pavi got out.

"What? Yes-a! Of course-a!" Pavi replied, smiling sadly at her. "I'm just worried about-a Marni is all…Who else did-a Nathan tell?"

"Your father and brother." Mag said. "I told him that was probably a bad idea, but he said he trusted them."

"I…" Pavi shook his head. "It was-a definitely a bad idea…I'll-a make sure they don't-a do anything, though."

"Thanks, Pavi. I would help, but I've been busy with my duties as the voice of Geneco." Mag smiled.

"Mag…I…I don't-a want to spoil your happiness, but you ought-a to read-a the fine print of-a your contract, it's-a not as perfect as-a you think." Pavi admitted, sadly shaking his head.

"What?" But he was gone by the time Mag had the chance to ask why.


	14. Chapter 14

"Luigi…I'm-a not going to do-a this with-a you anymore unless you promise you won't-a hurt Marni." Pavi said, looking up at Luigi and glaring. He groaned a little as his older brother ignored him and kept going. "I'm not-a kidding, I will tell-a someone what you're-a doing and you'll-a go down."

"The only one going down will be you, tomorrow night, same time, same place." Luigi chuckled a little at his own play on words.

"It's-a not funny, Luigi, I really will tell-a someone if-a you ever hurt Marni." Pavi frowned, looking back at his older brother.

"Whatever, slut, just shut up and bite the pillow." Luigi sneered.

Pavi shot Luigi a look of pure hatred, but leaned down and bit the pillow just like he was told. Humiliated and degraded, Pavi took it quite well, though his body ached and he was sure his hips were bruising as Luigi's hips hit them. Luigi was feeling much better than Pavi was, he was in charge, he had all the cards and controlled everything about Pavi in his opinion. Nothing could ruin this moment until the door creaked open.

"Pavi!?" a soft gasp came from the doorway. Pavi couldn't have felt any worse if he tried, because there stood Mag, watching in horror. Pavi immediately felt humiliated like he shouldn't be enjoying this. He'd never felt worse in his life, he was sure this would ruin his friendship with Mag and besides Marni; she was the only friend he had.

Mag just stood there, looking disgusted and hurt. How could Pavi just allow Luigi to do this to him? Mag couldn't imagine ever being more disgusted and betrayed by someone than she felt right now. She glared and turned to leave. When Pavi tried to pull back from biting the pillow to explain, Luigi pushed his head right back down on it. When Luigi did that, Mag bolted down the hallway, wishing to god she could erase that memory from her mind, wishing she could gouge her new eyes, just so she could pretend she'd never seen that.

When Luigi finally finished up and let Pavi go, Pavi ran off to look for Mag. He was unsure where he'd find her, so he tried his own room first, pausing in the doorway to remember Marni helping him every night with his homework. When he'd wasted a few minutes there, he headed off to Carmella's room; he peeked inside only to find Carmella sleeping peacefully and all alone. Pavi walked in quietly and gently stroked her hair off her face, kissing her on the head before walking out. Now that Marni was gone, the responsibility to read to Carmella fell on Pavi's shoulders. Finally, he decided to venture into forbidden territory. He tiptoed quietly to Rotti's room, opened the door a crack and poked his head in. Rotti was asleep and Mag was no where to be found. Pavi shuddered as he imagined the things Marni went through in this room, the beatings for only telling the truth to Rotti, the unsatisfying, cold, mechanical sex after she realized she no longer loved him, the arguments over Pavi's future…Pavi felt like all of that was his fault, but he didn't dwell on it more than a minute.

Mag had been sitting on the bed in Marni's old room for quite a while, thinking on her life and on how what she'd just seen made her feel. She thought back on her own experienced and slowly felt herself curl into a little ball and begin to cry. She remembered the pain, the fear, the humiliation. How could anyone WANT to subject themselves to that by willingly giving themselves to the person who did it to them? She lay there for a long time, just curled into a ball, sobbing like a frightened child until finally, the door to the room opened and in walked Pavi.

"Mag, can-a we talk?" Pavi asked, looking at her timidly. He felt terrible. This was all his fault, he'd probably brought back bad memories for Mag by letting her catch him and Luigi. He should have insisted the door be locked, he should have told Luigi he'd do it another night when Mag wasn't around. Mag shook her head and turned away from Pavi. "Please-a?" Pavi put a hand on her shoulder.

"NO!" Mag shouted. "Don't touch me!"

Pavi backed off and put his hands up in surrender. "I'm-a sorry, Mag, I didn't mean-a to upset you…Why are-a you so upset? I….I wanted it this-a time."

"That's WHY I'm upset, Pavi, no one should go crawling back to the person who violated them, not for any reason, no matter what." Mag replied. She had half a mind to tell Marni what had happened, but she couldn't bring herself to ruin Pavi's life that way. Without her, Marni was Pavi's only friend and a kid needs friends, or else life gets so unbearable that no one could know what they'd do. " I'm sorry I have to say this, Pavi, but…you…you're a whore. Anyone who would do what you've just done is a whore, Pavi. How many times have you let him?"

"Once a day every day-a since-a Marni left-a him." Pavi replied, looking ashamed. "Even at-a the wedding, we went-a into the bathroom and did it."

"Pavi! How could you!? Even after what he did to you!?"

"Are-a you going to tell-a?"

"What?"

"Are-a you going to tell-a Marni?" Pavi amended.

"No."

"Really?" Pavi asked, smiling. "Wait, why not-a?"

Mag sighed and looked at Pavi with tearful eyes. She couldn't believe what she was about to say, it would probably crush him. But at least he'd still have Marni when it was over. "You know, Pavi, I feel sorry for you that sex is more important to you than your own dignity, but I won't tell Marni, you need a friend now more than ever, but that just can't be me anymore. I'm sorry" and with that, Mag got up and walked out of the room, walking down the stairs and out of the house.

_A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short, I just thought it stood better this way._


	15. Chapter 15

Pavi was in shock. He couldn't cry, couldn't think of anything to say. He just watched Mag walk out of the house. He couldn't believe she'd actually left. She'd been one of his only friends and a very good one. He wondered why he'd even bothered to sleep with Luigi. He thought on it for a long time. He finally came up with a few reasons. First of all, Luigi was VERY good. He knew exactly where to touch to make Pavi squeal like a girl AND he was a very well endowed man, something both he and Pavi had inherited from their father. Second, Pavi didn't like the feeling of being raped. It made him feel small and weak and humiliated. If he consented and just let Luigi do what he wanted, it wasn't rape, Pavi was still in control and so he didn't feel as small and helpless. Also, Luigi needed him. He was all alone and lost without Marni, he needed someone to help him get over her so he wasn't so prone to find a way to harm her. Besides, what about Carmella? What If Luigi decided without Marni he wasn't above using a six year old? Luigi wouldn't do that to little Carmella, he loved her as much as Pavi did, but Pavi didn't know that and what was he supposed to do? Let Luigi do that? He didn't think so. Finally, Luigi had slept with Marni and sleeping with Luigi was the closest Pavi would ever get to sleeping with Marni now that she was married.

As he thought of all this, he wondered if he should go and find Mag and try and apologize to her, so he pulled his coat on over his pajamas, called one of his father's drivers and asked for a ride to Mag's house. The driver pulled up in front of the Largo manor and Pavi got in, directing the driver to take him to Mag's house. Rotti had provided Mag with a large house because as the voice of Geneco, she was supposed to look as rich as the owner and his family. When they arrived, Pavi ran up to the door and pounded on it until Mag answered. Finally she answered. "And just what on earth could you possibly have to say to me after what I just saw, Pavi?" Mag asked somewhat coldly.

"I wanted to-a explain to you why I-a did it…it's becau--"

"No, I know exactly why you did it, it's because you LIKE being treated like that, you've come to think it's normal because you've never really slept with someone you love, and so no one's really respected you or treated you well." Mag replied, cutting Pavi off and backing him down the steps, back towards the car. She couldn't believe he'd come to speak with her. How dare he!? She'd said all she wanted was to be left alone and here he was, unable to take the bloody hint! Just how stupid was he? "Now go away!"

Pavi looked deeply saddened by Mag's words, but he raised his hands in defeat and decided to take off, walking back to his driver's car and getting in. They headed off towards home a moment later and Pavi headed up to his room, tears pouring down his cheeks, he couldn't believe Mag didn't want to be friends anymore and all over some stupid insignificant romp with Luigi. How could Mag not see how unimportant that was? It was ridiculous of her to get so angry about something like that. Well, regardless, Pavi headed upstairs to Luigi's room, let his head hit the door and knocked three times on it. Luigi opened the door, causing Pavi to fall into his arms. He almost got angry until he noticed Pavi was in tears. Did he actually feel BAD for the little slut? Yes, dammit, Luigi Largo felt terrible for his slutty, pathetic, annoying, braindead younger brother. "Hey, don't feel bad, Pavi…it's not worth it to get this upset…You were just being yourself, you can't help that and if Mag can't see that, maybe you shouldn't have been friends with her to begin with, huh?" Luigi said, not sure whether to hug Pavi or maim him, he eventually settled for patting Pavi, if a bit roughly, on the back.

Pavi sighed sadly. "Can-a we just not talk-a about it and just-a get right down to-a business?"

"Sure." Luigi said, smoothing down his hair and stepping out of the way so Pavi could get into the room. He couldn't believe he was being so nice to the little brat, but he was.

Pavi walked in and sat down on the bed. Luigi walked over to him and grabbed him by the throat, pulling him into a standing possession and locking his lips against his, forcing his tongue into his mouth. Pavi grabbed Luigi's shoulders and returned the kiss. After a few minutes of that, Luigi pushed Pavi down onto his knees and undid his pants. Pavi pulled down Luigi's pants and underwear and leaned forward to service him, which he did expertly, more like a professional whore than a fifteen year old possible heir to the world's most powerful company.

"Good boy." Luigi grinned, grabbing Pavi by the hair and gripping it tightly, pushing his head down further. "You like doing this, don't you? Forget about Mag, she's just being a prude, she's just jealous because she doesn't get all this."

Pavi was a little ashamed and a bit upset that Luigi was bringing Mag into this, Pavi had only just lost her as a friend and the last thing he wanted was to hear bad things about her. She was amazing, a truly wonderful person, she'd befriended Pavi when he had no one but Marni in his miserable, lonely, degrading existence. He pulled back a little. "Luigi, can-a you not talk about-a Mag? It's-a depressing me and-a getting me out of the mood."

Luigi had another moment of confusion, not knowing whether to beat Pavi or honour his request. He decided on the latter. "Alright, Pavi. Let's try something else then." He said, laying Pavi on the bed and lifting his legs into the air and getting on the bed so he could press his hips against Pavi's hips and get all the way in. "There we go. Tell me how you want it tonight…"

"Gently, please-a. Why-a are you being so nice-a to me?" Pavi asked as Luigi began.

"Because you're miserable and as much as I can't stand the sight of you half the time, most of the time, all the time unless you're blowing me or taking it, doesn't mean I want you to kill yourself and that's exactly what you'd do if I was an asshole to you after your friend left you."

"You think-a I'm that unstable?" Pavi asked, panting softly in time with Luigi's rhythm.

"Yes." Luigi replied simply, going a little faster now. Pavi couldn't reply now, it was getting too intense, he felt like he would break if this kept going, but he didn't care, he wanted it badly. Finally, Luigi released, then did something surprising, he leaned down and returned the favor Pavi had given him earlier. Pavi had never seen Luigi do such a thing before, he'd never imagined Luigi even knew how even though he himself had been serviced, Pavi didn't know he knew how to service another person, but it was amazing. Pavi was close in almost no time and when he finally released, Luigi swallowed and stood up. "No one finds out about this, alright? If they do, I break your fucking neck."

Pavi nodded. "Okay, I got it, no one finds out." He grinned, giving Luigi a thumbs up sign before getting dressed and leaving the room to go back to his own room, where he flopped down on the bed and fell fast asleep, tears still flowing over losing Mag's friendship even as he drifted off.

Meanwhile, Rotti's poison was still in its testing stages, he was having the GENterns test it on animals and then when the animals had been killed by it, he decided to test it on a person who missed a payment on one of their organs or on a cosmetic surgery. They were easy enough to find and just as disposable as the rats he'd previously been testing on. It was still months from being ready to go yet, so he couldn't very well get Marni sick yet.

"Almost ready, pop?" Luigi asked, walking into his father's office.

"Not nearly." Rotti said, burying his face in his hands.

"Don't worry, it'll work, you'll see. We'll teach her to betray this family." Luigi grinned.


	16. Chapter 16

"So, Pavi, have you seen Mag lately? She stopped in a month ago and I was surprised you weren't with her." Marni said, mixing some dough.

"What are-a you making, Marni?" Pavi asked, wanting to get off the subject of Mag.

"Cookies. Nathan really likes cookies and he's been having a very hard time at the hospital recently, it's strange, his employers took a dislike to him about two, three months ago." Marni said absently.

"You mean-a around the same time you two got-a married?" Pavi asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Is your father still that jealous that he'd pay Nathan's employers to be cruel to him?" Marni ask, shaking her head. "Here I thought Rotti could be the bigger man and get over it, well, I guess I was wrong." She said, expertly placing the dough evenly about two inches apart on a large cooking sheet, which she then popped into the oven and set the timer for fifteen minutes.

"He can-a get pretty jealous…my mama cheated on-a him once…he beat-a her…she poisoned herself…I was-a eight. Then there was-a Carmella's mother, she ran away with-a another man, when she came back, I heard-a my papa yell at her…she shot-a herself in-a the head." Pavi said mechanically. "Luigi's mama…well…Luigi said-a she died of natural causes, so I don't-a know much about-a that."

"Pavi, did you ever think it's strange that both mothers in your life committed suicide just after Rotti punished them for disobeying him?" Marni said, shaking her head.

"Nope. Obviously they were-a so upset about being punished that-a they killed themselves." Pavi shrugged.

"Open your eyes, Pavi; your father is a monster." Marni said softly. "Look at what REALLY happened to your mother."

Pavi bit his lip and looked at the ground. "M…My…m…m…mama drank poison." Pavi started.

How could Pavi be so dim? What kind of a mother would drink poison and leave an eight year old boy without a mother and what kind of mother would shoot herself in the head and leave a five year old girl without a mother? Unless these two women were heartless or Marni was missing something, Rotti had to be behind it. "Look into it if you don't believe me, Pavi, your mother would not have left you alone in this world voluntarily and I doubt Carmella's mother would do it to her either. Just please, if you love me as your friend, look into this and don't be blinded by what your father wants you to believe."

Pavi nodded and got up. "Well, I-a better get to sleuthing then, shouldn't I?" He asked, turning to leave.

"Pavi, why don't you stay another few minutes and have a cookie?" Marni asked with a sad smile.

"Honey, I'm home! Oh, hello Pavi, when did you get here?" Nathan smiled pleasantly as he walked into the kitchen. He had a bouquet of white roses for Marni.

"Oh, honey! They're lovely! Pavi, would you mind getting me a vase? I can't bend over as well anymore even with only a little bump and they're on the bottom shelf." Marni giggled.

Pavi nodded and leaned down to get the vase. He picked it up, filled it with water at the sink and then set it down on the table where Nathan put the roses and plant food in the water. "Hello-a, Nathan." Pavi smiled. "So-a…bad day at work again?" He asked sympathetically, knowing his father was making Nathan's life difficult on purpose.

"That obvious? I thought I hid it so well." Nathan laughed good-naturedly.

"Yes-a, it is." Pavi said, smiling sadly. "I'm-a sorry, but at least-a you have-a the most perfect wife in-a the world to come home to, hmm?"

"Definitely." Nathan smiled, hugging Marni from behind and kissing her neck.

"I've-a got to get home." Pavi said. "Thanks-a for having me over, Marni, hope your work goes better, Nathan."

"Bye, Pavi!" Marni and Nathan said together, waving to Pavi as he walked off towards his waiting limo.

Pavi road off towards home and thought the whole ride about what Marni had said. He thought he'd better ask Luigi and his father what had happened, because if Marni was right, who would know better what had really happened than Luigi and Rotti? Soon Pavi was back at the house and up in Luigi's room. "Luigi, can-a we please talk-a about my mama and-a Mellie's mama for-a a minute?" He asked when Luigi opened the door.

"I…guess." Luigi was taken aback by this request. Sure he remembered the two women from his own childhood. Sophia, Pavi's mother, had actually looked similar to Pavi, slender, black hair, dark eyes, pale skin, very pretty, she was actually one of Mag's predecessors as the voice of Geneco, but also very subservient to Rotti, that is, until she made the ultimately fatal mistake of cheating on him. Carmella's mother, Carmella, had had reddish brown hair, light blue eyes and been extremely good looking, oh god, that woman had caught the eye of every man in the Geneco building when she'd started out as a GENtern. It made sense that Rotti took her immediately as his own. Where Sophia had been classy, sophisticated and well educated, Carmella had been wild, fun and more of a party girl, unfortunately, Carmella-the-GENtern had also made the fatal mistake of betraying Rotti. Luigi even remembered his own mother, Anna Maria. Light brown hair, pale blue eyes, humble, down to earth, very motherly. Luigi could only assume she'd been Rotti's first love because why else would he marry someone so plain? Dead of natural causes when Luigi was only four years old, Anna Maria was the only wife Luigi didn't get the feeling was murdered. Of course, he wasn't about to tell Pavi that, the kid would go shooting his mouth off and warn Marni, then he and Rotti would never have their revenge on her. "You're mom poisoned herself and as for Mellie's mom? The bitch blew herself up, what's there really to talk about?" Luigi shrugged. "Word to the not-so-wise, brother, stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, you'll regret it."

Pavi frowned and looked at Luigi for a minute. "Alright, I'll-a just go ask-a papa."

"You do that, Pavs." Luigi rolled his eyes.

Pavi wandered off down the hall to Rotti's room, opened the door and walked inside. Rotti was just finishing buttoning up his night shirt "What do you want, Paviche? I'm just off to bed." Rotti said with an exasperated sigh.

"We need-a to talk about-a The Pavi's mama. And Mellie's mama too."

"What about them, son?" Rotti asked, eyes glinting.

"Did-a they really kill-a themselves or did-a you make it up?" Pavi asked

Rotti's eyes flashed with rage and in a second, he had Pavi by the throat, slapping him with his other hand. "HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST I WOULD LIE ABOUT SUCH A THING!?" He shouted, however he soon realized what he was doing. "Pavi…I'm sorry, I didn't mean… You just brought up such painful memories, I…some things just can't be…" Rotti tried to apologize to his son, but Pavi quickly scampered out of the room, just trying to get away from his father. "Marni is filling his head with this. She'll pay dearly for turning my own son against me." Rotti growled, banging his head on the dresser.

Meanwhile, Pavi walked into Carmella's room. "Cheshire! I can read the words! Come see! Come see!" She called excitedly to Pavi, motioning for him to sit down. He did so and Carmella began to read. "You are old, father William, the young man said and your hair has become very white and yet you…instensibly…"

"Incessantly." Pavi corrected.

"Incestently."

"Close-a enough."

"Stand on your head; do you think at your age it is right?" Carmella finished, grinning happily up at Pavi through the hole where her right front tooth was missing.

"Alright, Mellie, time for-a bed now." Pavi said, pulling back the covers so Carmella could get in. He kissed her goodnight and pulled the covers back over her, then got up and walked out of the room, back to his own room where he flopped down on his own bed and fell fast asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

"He beat me." Pavi told Marni as he sat in the sitting room with her in front of the fireplace. "I asked-a him about-a my mama and he beat me." Pavi still looked shaken even a few months later. His father had beaten him before, but he'd never looked so crazed when he did it.

"Pavi, I'm sorry, it's my fault, I shouldn't have told you to investigate any further." Marni said softly, scooting over to Pavi and hugging him tightly. They'd talked about this before, but Pavi just seemed so upset about it that Marni didn't chastise him for speaking too much about it for the past four months. "Anyway, I have this feeling like I'm not going to be around much longer…"

"What!?" Pavi gasped. "What makes-a you think that?" He asked, cocking his head to one side as he stared slack jawed at Marni.

"I just get the feeling I'm not going to get out of this part of my life alive." Marni shrugged. "Game over for me."

"Marni…You've-a been the most positive influence in-a my life…Ever since I was little I've-a had no direction, I've-a been on-a a road to no where, but then there was you, you believed-a in me, you knew I could-a do better." Pavi said softly.

"We may never see each other again, Pavi…But as much as I've helped you grow up, you've helped me grow up too and I'm glad I got to be a mother to you even if I never get to be a mother to my own child." Marni said softly, holding Pavi tightly in her arms and stroking his hair gently.

"Nothing's gonna harm you, not-a while I'm around, nothing's gonna harm you, Marni, not while I'm around." Pavi sang to Marni the song she'd sung to him over a year ago.

"Demons will charm you with a smile, for a while, but in time…" Marni smiled. "Nothing can harm you, not while I'm around."

Pavi nuzzled close to Marni, closing his eyes and eventually falling asleep as she held him gently. He felt like a little kid again falling asleep in his own mother's arms. Soon Marni laid Pavi down on the couch and pulled a decorative blanket over him, also sticking a throw pillow under his head. Nathan walked in at that moment and was about to speak, when Marni put a finger to her lips to shush him. "Shh! He's sleeping." She whispered. "Just imagine, Nathan, soon we'll have a child of our own to tuck in at night and watch them sleep."

"I just hope you're as good with our child as you are with Pavi, but then I'm sure you will be." Nathan grinned. "Huh? Oh! Rotti's calling me on my communicator, I better answer. Yes, Rotti?"

"Nathan, I thought maybe you and Marni would like to come to dinner tonight." Rotti smirked as he spoke; of course Nathan couldn't see him smirking.

"Sure, Rotti! Let me just ask Marni." Nathan turned to Marni. "Marni, what do you think? Dinner at Rotti's tonight?"

Marni gulped, but nodded her head. Nathan was too happy to be seeing his best friend for dinner to notice Marni's discomfort. "We'll be there, in fact, we'll bring Pavi home for you so you don't have to pay your driver for tonight." Nathan smiled.

"Wonderful." Rotti grinned coldly, hanging up.

Marni went out to the car, pale as a ghost. Nathan picked Pavi's sleeping form up off the couch, gently placing him in the back seat of the car, belting him in. Then he got into the front seat and sat next to Marni, smiling at her as he drove off towards the Largo manor. The whole ride over Marni was silent and stoic as though she were being driven to her execution.

When they arrived, Mag was there already, sitting beside Rotti who was speaking to her about her contract, Mag looked on the verge of tears. Pavi immediately felt bad, he'd warned Mag a little too late about checking the fine print of her contract. Now she was trapped in this unhappy relationship, basically a master-slave relationship with Rotti for the rest of her life.

Marni was about to sit across from Mag, but Rotti insisted that he wanted Nathan next to him and Marni next to Nathan. So Nathan sat across from Mag, Marni sat across from Pavi and Luigi sat across from Carmella. The group began to eat the first course, Luigi, Pavi, Mag and Carmella all drank only water due to Rotti's strict alcohol policy, even twenty year old Luigi was considered too young even if only by one year. Dinner passed pretty uneventfully, Carmella stood up at one point and declared that Luigi was late for the queen's croquet game and would lose his head. Luigi gritted his teeth, but didn't get angry at the little girl; he couldn't shout at Mellie, she was too damn cute. Pavi changed the subject and told everyone that Mellie had learned how to read finally. "She read-a me some of her book last-a night before bed. She's-a quite good with-a her words."

By the last course, Marni was looking a bit nauseous. "Too much wine, probably." Nathan laughed, even though Marni hadn't drunk any wine at all because of her delicate condition. "I'll take her home. Thank you for a wonderful evening, Rotti, we'll have to do this again some time." Nathan smiled as he helped Marni up and out the door. Marni was half between vomiting and blacking out, so Pavi didn't get a chance to say goodbye to her.

"You're not to go visit them anymore, Paviche." Rotti said, noticing Pavi watching Marni and Nathan leave. "It's for the best."

"But papa, I--" Pavi gasped.

"Don't argue with me, Paviche." Rotti ordered. "Go to your room now."

Pavi sighed and did as he was told, walking to his room. He couldn't believe it, Marni was only one month away from giving birth to Pavi's little brother or sister and he wasn't allowed to see her anymore. It wasn't fair. Rotti could really be so cruel. This was worse than a beating in Pavi's opinion. At least if he was beaten, he could go to Marni and tell her about it and she'd find a way to make him feel better, but taking Marni away was like tearing a piece of his heart out.

Luigi and Rotti sat up most of the night, waiting. Finally their patience was rewarded when Rotti's communicator went off. "Incoming message from Nathan Wallace! Incoming message from Nathan Wallace!" The communicator stated over and over again until finally, Rotti answered it.

"Nathan, how nice to hear from you so soon. What's going on?" Rotti asked genially. Luigi listened in closely, silently; waiting for what they knew was coming.

"Marni's sick…" came Nathan's voice, choking back a sob.


	18. Chapter 18

He had to see her, no matter what. He would do anything just to sleep in her embrace one more time and she was sick. She KNEW she was sick because she'd told him last week right before she got sick that she would. Pavi would probably do many horrible things just to see Marni again one last time, it was that important to him. He ran a hand back through his long jet black hair as he considered what to do. He decided his best bet was Luigi. If Pavi asked a driver to bring him to Marni's house, the driver would report back to Rotti. But if Luigi brought Pavi to Marni's house and Pavi was a good boy for him, he wouldn't tell Rotti.

It made Pavi miserable to have to rely on Luigi, but he had to if he wanted to see Marni. He was determined to see her, convinced that his presence would help lift her illness and make her well again. He ran down the hall practically barreling down the door of Luigi's room in his effort to get in. "Luigi! Luigi! I need-a your help!"

"Go the fuck away, Pavi, I'm busy." Luigi growled. He was doing nothing but lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. What was it about Pavi that always made Luigi utterly and completely irate ever time he entered a room or opened his mouth? Was it that accent? The girlish mannerisms? The fact that he was an annoying slut? Luigi just couldn't figure it out. The only time he ever seemed to like Pavi was when he was naked, crying and either on his hands and knees or in some other compromising position. In short, Pavi was only good for sex as far as Luigi was concerned, fuck him, then pitch the bitch.

"Luigi, I need-a you to drive me somewhere, please, it's-a very important!" Pavi begged eyes wide and teary. He was trying to make himself cry so that Luigi would help him.

"Go fuck yourself, I'm busy." Luigi insisted, eyes glinting dangerously.

"Please-a, I--"Pavi gasped as he was cut off by Luigi's hand on his throat and a knife held to it a well.

"Maybe you didn't hear me, you obnoxious little shit, ..OFF."

"Please, I'll-a do anything!" Pavi begged frantically.

"Anything?" Luigi said, dropping Pavi and taking the knife away from his throat. "Alright, pretty boy, blow me. Then I'll take you to see your precious Marni." He smirked.

Pavi complied immediately, getting down on his hands and knees in front of Luigi. Luigi grabbed Pavi's hair and pulled him up so his face was right where it needed to be. He pushed Pavi's head closer to the target area and Pavi took him into his mouth, going as hard and fast as he could to get it over with as quickly as possible. "Slower, I want to enjoy this, you stupid fuck." Luigi commanded. Pavi had to comply if he wanted to see Marni. Of course, Luigi would just go back on his word, it wasn't his fault Pavi was too stupid to make sure he got what he wanted before paying for it.

Finally Pavi finished his work and was rewarded with a shot in the face. "Now-a I'll clean myself off and-a we can go, right-a?"

"No. You're an idiot for not getting what you want before giving me what I wanted. So now I walk away with a free blowjob and you walk away with nothing." Luigi laughed. "And you WILL walk away, or I will fucking slit your throat."

"But…but…"Pavi stammered.

"Out! Before I inflict bodily harm on you." Luigi snarled, shoving Pavi out of his room.

Pavi wasn't too surprised by what Luigi had done. Now he still needed to find a ride to Marni's though. Maybe Mag would help him because Marni was involved. He decided to go visit Mag to ask her, so he walked out of the house and in the direction of Mag's house. It was a relatively long walk, but still, he had to see Marni by any means possible and her home was not in walking distance of his own home. When he arrived at Mag's house he knocked respectfully on the door twice. Mag came to the door and opened it. "Pavi, take the hint. Your family has ruined my life; you are the last person in the world I want to see right now besides your father."

"Mag, please-a, I need-a to see Marni, Luigi won't take-a me and I can't-a let papa know I'm going to see her because I'm-a not allowed to anymore." Pavi begged.

"Pavi…" Mag sighed. "Fine, I will help you, we'll call MY driver and we'll both visit her."

"Thank-a you so much, Mag." Pavi smiled, grabbing Mag's hands and kissing them both. "How-a can I ever repay-a you?"

"Leave me alone after this." Mag said simply, if a bit coldly.

"Alright, I will." Pavi sighed, looking at the ground.

Mag called her driver and soon the two of them were in the back seat of a limo on their way to Marni and Nathan's house. Once they arrived, they, Pavi leapt out and ran up to the gate, ringing the buzzer. "Nathan, it's-a me, Pavi, is-a Marni okay, please tell-a me she's-a okay"

"I'm here too, Nathan." Mag said softly.

"Pavi, Mag, thank god it's you two. Please come in, Marni's not doing too well, maybe she'll feel a little better if she sees the two of you." Nathan said softly, relieved. He opened the gate and let them in, walking them up to the bedroom where Marni lay on the bed, looking so weak and frail.

"Pavi! Mag!" Her face lit up when she saw them and she reached out her arms, taking the two into her arms and hugging them tightly. "It's so good to see you two. I'm so glad to see you two together again. Did you two make up from whatever you were fighting about?"

"Yes." Mag said monotonously.

"Mmhmm." Pavi replied.

"Wonderful! I feel much better seeing you two again…" Marni smiled weakly. "Nathan says the baby is going to be alright." Marni's smile brightened. "I'm still going to be a mother! I mean, to my own child." She added when she saw the distressed look on Pavi's face.

"Marni, I hope-a you get better soon." Pavi smiled sadly, hugging Marni tightly. "You'll-a live, you just have-a to. Mellie misses you. She keeps asking "Where's Alice?" all the time."

"If I get better, I promise I'll come to see you and Mellie." Marni said sadly.

"Don't-a you mean 'when' you get-a better?" Pavi asked, forcing on a smile. It was looking grim. Marni was terribly sick, not even able to get out of bed, barely able to move, Marni wouldn't get better. She was going to die if Nathan couldn't cure her.

"Pavi, I don't want you to worry, I'm working on a cure." Nathan said, noticing the boy was close to tears. "I'm close, I can feel it. It should be ready in about a month, tell your father that too, I know he's just as worried about Marni as you and Mag are. But you all don't need to worry, because I'm close to a cure."

"But I can't-a tell my father…he'll-a be angry that I came-a to visit you without-a his permission." Pavi said softly.

"Well then I'll just call him on his communicator once you're home." Nathan said. "And I won't tell him you came, because it does mean a lot to Marni that you did."

"Thank-a you, Nathan." Pavi smiled.

"Pavi, we should get you home before your father wonders where you are." Mag said softly, motioning for Pavi to follow her back to the car. On the ride home, Mag was silent until Pavi got out, then she grabbed his arm, and looked him in the eyes. "Marni is going to die, Pavi." She said softly. "I can feel it…We should get along for her, so I'm sorry about how I treated you, the things I said, though I still believe them, were uncalled for." Mag was close to tears. "Please, just let's keep Marni happy no matter what."

"I-a agree, Mag." Pavi replied. "I have-a to get inside now before my father finds-a out that I've-a been…Oh no-a…" Pavi gasped when he saw Rotti standing in the doorway.


	19. Chapter 19

"Paviche, I'm not angry with you, I was worried about you, I don't want my little boy to be around the ill, you could get sick too." Rotti said with a fatherly smile at Pavi.

"I'm-a sorry, father. I just-a wanted to see her, she's-a dying, Mag told me." Pavi sniffled.

Rotti hugged his son tightly, trying to seem as fatherly as he could. Of course he planned to punish Pavi for disobeying him, but he had some thing in mind that Pavi would hate much more than abuse. Something that Pavi's vain little mind would consider the ultimate horror. "It's okay, Pavi…I have a special surprise for you…In a few years my surGENs will have a new type of surgery available. How would you like to look even more handsome than you do now?"

"I could really be-a more handsome?" Pavi may have been vain, but under his vanity and air of superiority and good looks, he had very low self-esteem probably because of the way Luigi treated him and also the fact that he could never have Marni. He needed constant praise or else he assumed he was no good and had to spend all day in front of a mirror reassuring himself of how handsome he was.

"Of course you can, son." Rotti smirked. "Now, what makes you think Marni is going to die? She'll be fine; Nathan called me and said he's close to a cure."

"Really?" Pavi asked, wiping away a tear on his sleeve.

"Yes." Rotti said, somewhat threateningly. "Why, I'll bet she'll be better in the morning. You just go to sleep now; you've had a long, trying day."

"I….alright, papa. Have-a a good night" Pavi hugged his father tightly and then ran off to bed.

"So, you got the poison, right, pop?" Luigi asked, stepping out of the other room as soon as Pavi was gone.

"Of course I do, son." Rotti grinned, holding up a stoppered bottle of poison. He and Luigi walked out to their limo and rode off to the Geneco building, where they walked into the elevator and rode up to Rotti's office where they called a young GENtern to the office. "Hello, Melissa, we need you to do us a favor." Rotti grinned, holding out the vial. "Sneak this into Nathan's lab."

"What is it?" Melissa asked, eyeing the vial as she twirled her hair around her finger.

"No idea." Rotti shrugged. "He left it here; I'm guessing it's his secret ingredient to the cure he's been working on for his wife."

"Alright." Melissa said, taking the vial and carrying it off towards Nathan's lab. When she got there, the girl switched the actual cure with the poison, believing she was delivering the right cure and taking away the wrong one. She heard someone coming and scurried off in a flash.

Nathan arrived in his lab and grabbed the vial he believed to be the cure and took out a dropper, taking some into it and squeezing it out into Marni's glass of water. He smiled triumphantly as he carried it up to her room and handed the glass to her. "Here you go, Marni, if my calculations are right, this will make you better, then maybe Pavi and Mag can come and see you, it'll be good for them to know you're okay." He smiled, hugging Marni gently, rubbing her stomach a little to say his hello to his unborn child for the day and then kissing Marni on the cheek.

"Thanks, honey." Marni smiled, taking the glass and drinking from it. Suddenly her eyes dilated and she began to cough up blood.

"Marni?!" Nathan gasped. Soon Marni collapsed on the floor. In a blind panic, Nathan picked her up and carried her downstairs to his lab where he had to hurry and make a quick decision; did he try to save Marni and risk losing the baby? Or did he save the baby and kill Marni in the process?

"N…N…Nathan! S…s…sa…save…Sh…Sh…Sh…Shilo!" Marni gasped through painful labored breathing. "I don't matter!"

Shilo. That was the name they'd picked out for their baby girl. Alright, if Marni wanted it that way, Nathan would save Shilo. He took a scalpel and cut Marni open, removing the baby in a hurry and frantically slicing away the umbilical cord.

"Nathan, I love you and Shilo…and…and…tell Pavi and Mag…I'm…sorry." Marni gave one last involuntary spasm and died.

"MARNI! OH GOD! SOMEBODY, HELP! PLEASE!" Nathan cried out, realizing Shilo was slipping too and, like his prayer had been answered, there was Rotti, Nathan's best friend with a beautiful GENtern who could take Shilo. But…why were they surrounded by GENcops?

"Nathan…what have you done?" Rotti gasped, pretending to be horrified. "Never mind for now, it doesn't matter. Melissa, take the child and see if you and the other girls can't save her." Rotti said, turning to the GENtern with surprising calmness.

"Now, Nathan, the way I see it, this is very severe malpractice, I'm afraid we have to revoke your medical license. Fortunately for you, I have a job opening at Geneco." Rotti went on calmly, placing an unfeeling hand on Nathan's shoulder and gripping it, Nathan was still kneeling by Marni's bedside, sobbing mournfully into the sleeve of her nightdress. "Nathan. Listen to me, you're deep in trouble, you need my help and I need your skills. I'm sure you've heard that I've had organ repossession legalized, well, I need you to help me out by being something I call a 'Repoman'. That means you go around and collect the organs that people owe me."

"W…What? So I'm some sort of 'legal assassin?'" Nathan asked weakly.

"Take it or leave it, Nathan, it's the only way you can support a daughter. You're no longer a doctor." Rotti shrugged. "I was only trying to help, guess I'll just go home, Paviche will want to know what's happened…I only hope he doesn't blame you, I don't want things to become strained between my family and you."

"Wait!" Nathan grabbed Rotti's arm.

"Yes?" Rotti asked with a grin.

"I'll do it." And with that, Nathan Wallace signed the papers, took his helmet and became Nathan Wallace, Repoman, a legal assassin in the service of Geneco.

"The baby is going to pull through." Melissa said, popping her head back into the room. "Just thought you'd like to know."

"Thank you, Melissa, if she's well enough, I think she'd like to see her daddy and I think her daddy would like to see her." Rotti said, pretending to care about Nathan and the baby.

"Alright, Mr. Largo." Melissa nodded, walking back to where she and the other girls had been taking care of the baby, who was only a little larger than a human heart. "Here you go, Mr. Wallace, your new baby girl." Melissa smiled at Nathan, handing him the baby, who held tight to Melissa's finger before Nathan took the baby. Melissa smiled at Nathan and Shilo and then walked off back to where the other GENterns were.

"Now I'm afraid I need to go home and break the news to Paviche and Mag. Oh, they'll take it so hard and just think, Nathan, if only you'd checked your calculations, Marni would still be alive." Rotti reminded Nathan, smirking as he walked off to his limo and rode back to the Largo manor where Pavi and Mag were waiting at the door for him. They both stood up when he arrived, but he shook his head, immediately, Mag fell into Pavi's arms, crying against his chest, Pavi buried his face in Mag's long dark hair and began to sob openly as well. Rotti left the two to grieve and went in to give Luigi the good news. Their plan had worked.


	20. Chapter 20

Pavi stood in front of his mirror, staring miserably at his reflection as he adjusted his tie. Today was Marni's funeral, it would be a closed casket affair because Nathan told all those invited that he'd rather they remember Marni as the beautiful, vibrant woman she'd been while she was alive, smiling and happy, rather than with a cold dead look on her face.

As he pulled the tie into place, Pavi sighed softly, whimpering a bit, he couldn't believe Marni was really gone. Was it really all Nathan's fault like Rotti said? Or was Rotti responsible for not only Marni's death but the death of Sophia and Carmella I as well? As Pavi wondered this, he finished getting dressed and walked down to Carmella's room to help her get ready. He found Mellie on the floor, blotchy faced and crying. She didn't understand where her Alice had gone. At six years old, death didn't really make sense to her. How could someone disappear for ever? Was it like in Alice and Wonderland where you just go out like a candle? But Carmella didn't WANT Marni to go out like a candle! It wasn't fair! Why should Marni go out like a candle when Carmella wanted her to be here now? "'S not fair, Cheshire!" Carmella wailed "Alice's gonna come back, you'll see! She never met the queen!"

"Carmella, we have-a to get you into your black-a dress." Pavi said softly, pulling out a little black dress with a crinoline petticoat underneath as well as white ruffles and laces.

"I WANNA WEAR THE BLUE ONE!" Carmella screamed as tears poured down her cheeks. "ALICE LIKES THAT ONE BEST!"  
Pavi had never gotten angry at Carmella before in his life, and he really wasn't angry at her right now, but as tears welled in his eyes, he felt angry that Marni was gone and he'd never see her again. "WELL-A IT'S TOO FUCKING BAD-A, YOU'RE-A NEVER GONNA SEE-A HER AGAIN SO SHOW-A SOME RESPECT AND WEAR THE BLACK ONE!" he shouted back.

Carmella blinked, but sniffled and put on the black dress like she was supposed to. "Cheshire, I wanna see Alice again." She began to sob again.

"Oh, Mellie, I'm-a so sorry. I didn't mean-a to snap. I'm-a just…so lost-a without Marni…" Pavi said, sitting down on the chair next to Carmella's bed.

Carmella climbed up into Pavi's lap and snuggled against him. "She….she went out like a candle, didn't she?" She sniffled.

Pavi nodded, sighing as he gently stroked Carmella's long reddish brown hair with its little black bow. "Let's-a go get Luigi. He has-a to come with us, so we might as-a well get him too." Pavi said softly, picking Carmella up in his arms and standing up to walk to Luigi's room. Balancing Carmella on one arm, he knocked on the door.

"I'm not going. That fucking slut deserved to die so I sure as shit ain't gonna go sit there and pretend I feel bad that she's dead." Luigi's voice came from behind the door. Had he been crying? It sure sounded that way to Pavi.

"Luigi, I know-a you're hurting but please, she would-a have wanted you there." Pavi chided.

"Shut the fuck up!"

"Don't-a talk that way in front-a of Mellie!"

"Cheshire, what's 'fuck'?"

"See? look-a what you did!"

"Yeah, well, good luck with that."

Pavi frowned and walked downstairs towards the waiting limo where Rotti was already sitting. "What took you so long, Paviche?"

"Mellie was a little upset and Luigi wouldn't come down with us." Pavi explained sadly.

"Alright, then we'll go without him." Rotti said, motioning for the driver to drive off towards the church where the funeral was being held. The service was mercifully short. Pavi was asked to give a speech and Mag was asked to sing.

"Marni was-a the most positive influence in-a my entire life. She's what made-a the darkness daylight…Without-a her, I would-a have been-a a miserable, lonely person, or worse-a, I would have been dead. She was-a beautiful, patient, kind-a, intelligent, a pleasure to be around and without-a her I'd never have felt-a a single bit of a mother's love after I was eight years old. Marni came-a into my life when I was fourteen. Just last-a year. When no one else would-a listen to me, she heard-a what I couldn't say and she saved me. Now that-a she is gone, I don't-a know what to do anymore. I…I…I can't-a go on…Oh god-a…I can't-a go on…" He began to sob and Mag had to come and lead him off the platform and out of the service. Once he arrived outside, he noticed he wasn't the only one there.

"Pretty pathetic, Pavi." Luigi sneered. "I thought you were over your crush on that pathetic bitch."

"Shut-a up, Luigi!" Pavi growled, throwing a punch, but Luigi caught his fist and pushed him down.

"Pathetic, truly pathetic. She was just some bitch, Pavi, get over her." Luigi laughed. "I'm what you've got now."

"Not much-a of a prize, then." Pavi glared.

"Shut up, slut." Luigi growled, dragging Pavi back to his car and tossing him into the backseat. He glared coldly down at the kid pushed him down. "Now let's see if you have any tears left after that stupidity."

"You can't-a! Please! I'll do-a this with-a you later! Tomorrow! Not right-a now, please, it's not-a right, Marni needs me!" Pavi whimpered.

"Hmm…" Luigi pretended to think. "Nah, I think I like you better in tears." And with that, he pulled down Pavi's pants and underwear, then he pulled down his own pants and underwear. Finally he gave a hard thrust, hard enough to knock Pavi forward into the other car door, hitting his head on it. He whimpered in pain from the bump on the head and also from Luigi's hard, brutal thrusts. Pavi was pretty sure he was bleeding by now as Luigi continued his merciless assault.

"Please-a…stop it, brother…" Pavi sniffled, tears pouring down his cheeks. But Luigi didn't stop until he finished up, leaving Pavi shaking and sobbing in the backseat of the car, crying like a scared little kid, which in the end was what he was without Marni.

Back in the church, Mag was talking to Nathan. "Nathan, I know this is a bad time, but when can I meet the child, I am, after all, her godmother."

"Oh…Mag, didn't Rotti tell you? Shilo died." Nathan said softly. He would have felt bad lying to Mag if Marni were still alive, but with Marni dead, Nathan didn't want to share his newborn daughter, the last memory of Marni he had, with anyone. Not even Mag. He only hoped that Rotti hadn't told Pavi.

Later that night, Pavi walked into Rotti's room. "Papa, did-a Marni's daughter survive?" He asked.

"Yes, Pavi, she did." Rotti replied. "Now go to bed, it's late."

That settled it. Pavi had to meet his little sister somehow, no matter what.


End file.
